Don’t let a setback derail your efforts
In a previous blog about mindset, we took a closer look at how your belief about yourself impacts your success or failure. We also looked at how understanding, adapting and shifting your mindset not only can help improve your health, but also can decrease stress and help you become more resilient to challenges.
Even so, setbacks still can happen to anyone, either from internal struggles or external ones out of your control. The bigger challenge is how to reduce their impact and occurrence, and recover quickly.
It’s also important to remember that no one improves in a straight line without any ups or downs. The good news — as explained by Dr. Daniel Amen, author of “The Brain Warrior’s Way” — is the fact that ups can become motivation to keep going, while downs allow you an opportunity to learn and grow.
Here are five effective strategies you can use to deal with setbacks and get back on track with your health and wellness goals:
Acknowledge and accept responsibility for the setback. You can either continue to blame everyone and anything or you can refocus on your goals and how you can achieve them.
Pause and reflect. Although you might not see it in the moment, the setback is trying to teach you something. Identify what you learned, be grateful for the opportunity to grow and get clear on what you want to accomplish next.
Regain control. Look at the situation from a different angle and determine what you could have done to avoid it. This is an opportunity to think about things within your control that, in turn, help you feel less out of control.
Use the setback as a step forward. Each setback, lesson learned and failure can be a step in taking you closer toward your end goal. It’s your choice: Will the setback take you down, or will it move you closer to where you want to be.
Never make failure an option. If you do, you’ve already set yourself up for failure before you even begin. Instead, understanding that you can expect a few setbacks along the way, how can you better plan now for success in the future?
A final thought: Life is not only full of setbacks but also failures and obstacles. Don’t see them as a negative thing. Instead, let them redirect you to where you want to go.
