Dealing With Setbacks In A Positive Way

overcoming challenges positivity Sep 20, 2020

No matter how hard you work on personal development, on positive thinking, and on how good you get at coming up with creative solutions to any problems and roadblocks you encounter, there will be a time when things simply don’t work out. Life isn’t all roses and sunshine. We all face difficult times and setbacks. How we deal with them is what sets us apart. In today’s post, I want to walk you through the process of dealing with setbacks in a positive way.

Forgive Yourself And Give Yourself A Break

When you are dealing with a setback, it’s important to forgive yourself. We’re all human. We make mistakes. We make the wrong choices. We don’t get as much done as we’d like. We miss our goals. It happens. Don’t let a small setback wipe out all the hard work you’ve done towards positive thinking. Don’t start beating yourself up. Instead, forgive yourself and move on.

If you have a hard time with forgiveness, just give yourself a break. Things happen and often they are out of your control. Another good way to look at it is to imagine if this had happened to someone you love. Would you forgive them? Then why aren’t you being just as kind to yourself?

Figure Out What Went Wrong

Next, it’s a good idea to give some thought to what went wrong. If you take the time to review and retrace your steps and figure out what happened, there’s a lot to be learned. Isn’t that a much more positive way to deal with mistakes and setbacks than giving up? I think so too.

Take the time to figure out what didn’t go right so you can do better next time. While you may not have an obvious answer every single time, I’m sure you can learn something from the experience. That in itself is a positive action. Of course even when you do figure out what went wrong, there’s no guarantee you’ll get it right the next time. But if you never try again, you won’t know.

Come Back Better Than Ever

This brings us to the last step. When you know what went wrong, it’s easy to avoid making the same mistake again. Figure out what went wrong, put on your creative thinking cap to come up with a better solution, and try again. And again, and again. The point is don’t let setbacks stop you from reaching your goals. Don’t give up. Stay positive, get creative, and keep going until you make it work. That’s what sets truly successful people apart from everyone else. 

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