How to Positively Handle a Setback

I was on a podcast last week where the focus was staying on track with your New Years resolutions, which got me thinking about set backs to our goals. Setbacks are a normal part of attempting to achieve anything- whether its a career goal, physical goal, health goal etc. The secret to not allowing this setback to define the coarse of the goa and its is all in in the mind!

I certainly experienced this during my first attempt to kayak to Hawaii. I could have looked at the failure as so catastrophic and not attempted it again. Ignoring the naysayers and taking the failure as a learning experience to improve was not easy, but my desire to achieve the goal was greater than given into the setback. Some steps that helped me stay on track that might help you!

• Acknowledge and accept the setback. It's important to acknowledge that it has occurred and that it is a normal part of the process of achieving a goal.

• Reflect on the cause of the setback. Take the time to evaluate what went wrong and what could have been done differently to prevent it.

• Adjust your plan. Use the information you have gathered from reflecting on the cause of the setback to make necessary adjustments to your plan.

• Stay positive and focused on the end goal. It's important to keep a positive attitude and not let the setback discourage you from continuing to work towards your goal.

• Learn from the setback. Try to extract valuable lessons from the setback that will help you to be more successful in the future.

• Re-evaluate your goal. See if it's still attainable or if need to make some changes to the goal itself or the way you're approaching it.

Aloha! CD