4 Tactics For Facing Setbacks
Sooner or later we all face setbacks.
Some are not serious. Perhaps it’s a potential lead that you’ve been courting, and they finally make up their mind not to go with you. Sure, you’ve wasted some time, and sure you could do with the extra sales, but you move on to the next lead.
But what happens if it’s more serious? What happens if it’s a group of clients that represent half your business who decide to go elsewhere? What if it’s a fire, or a serious accident, or the death of a key person in the business? How do you face a serious, potentially business-breaking setback head on and come back from it?
Watch as I take you through 4 tactics for facing setbacks, and coming back stronger.
Getting into the habit of watching your language is critical. It is a foundational step in how you view what has happened to you. Coming back from a setback rests on understanding that while you cannot control what happens to you, you can control how you react to it. So, if you are used to using language like “I don’t know how I can cope” or “disasters always happen to me” or “this is the end of my business” you are talking yourself into a self-fulfilling story. As soon as you use language that removes control from your hands, you act as if you can’t cope, or it is a disaster, or it is the end.
On the other hand if you train yourself to use language like “what can I do from here?” or “this is a once off, let’s review what I have” or “it’s an opportunity to rebuild differently from before” you set yourself up to look at possibilities that are within your control.
Once you feel you are in control of the situation, of how you react to the situation, take strength from your experience, or at least from the experiences of others. Remind yourself that in the history of the world, if this particular setback has not happened to you before it has happened to someone else and they survived. Take confidence from your own experience of similar setbacks, and how you came back, or seek mentors to walk you through a solution with confidence. Ultimately a setback is an opportunity. A setback means that circumstances have changed, and if circumstances have changed, it means you can exploit the change.
Is there something you can rebuild better? Stronger? Different so that it exploits a market opportunity that in the previous situation you could not?
Through it all, the ability to keep perspective will also keep the situation in the right proportion. A setback is not a “disaster” or “the end” unless you make it so.
Having a vision for your business, and a personal vision will be your strength. If you believe in the vision, and that you will ultimately achieve it and be successful, than all setbacks, no matter how serious, are only milestones along your journey toward that vision. So if you don’t have a clear vision, make sure you build one – make it inspirational and aspirational, and keep it clear in your mind no matter what happens to you. Because with a clear vision you will know that you can control how you react to unforeseen setbacks that happen to you.
So, this is where it gets interesting. How do you see yourself facing a setback head on and coming back stronger than ever? Have you done it before? Get over to my website at teikoh.com and share your experiences (or your fears!) and let’s have a discussion about how we can get back from setbacks!
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