Troubleshooting Your Setbacks

Chances are, if you’ve ever worked towards a goal, you’ve experienced setbacks in your progress. Whether those obstacles are external or internal, difficult or easy to navigate, setbacks can leave you feeling depressed and unmotivated.

But before you abandon your goal and the progress you’ve made, try troubleshooting to solve the issue. We’ve come up with a five-point plan for dealing with setbacks. Try these steps to get yourself back on track!

1)  Accept that setbacks will happen. They happen to everyone! It’s how you respond that determines whether you reach your goal.

2)  Process the feelings surrounding your setbacks. Whether you feel sad, angry, anxious, stressed, or frustrated – you have a right to those feelings. Look for healthy ways to express them, such as journaling, listening to music, drawing or painting, working out, or talking to a friend.

     Ignoring these feelings will keep you from fully committing to your next step. But don’t dwell on them so much that you delay taking action.

3)  Ask what caused this setback to happen. Was there an external obstacle that got in your way? Did you underestimate the time or effort involved in a particular action step? Is your goal itself realistic and attainable? Knowing what caused the setback will help you determine your next action step.

4)  Define your next action step. Use what you have learned from your analysis of this setback to determine how you will more forward. Can you work around the obstacles? What resources do you have that can help you? Do you need to redefine your goal? Be specific in describing the action you will take, and then go do it!

5)  Be kind to yourself. Like we said in #1, setbacks will happen. That’s okay, normal even! Don’t beat yourself up over your perceived mistakes. More learning happens when you “screw up” than when you get everything right. In that sense, “perfect” learning should involve a lot of mistakes! Take each setback as an opportunity to learn more about yourself and get stronger.