5 steps to overcoming setbacks in life
Overcoming setbacks is vital for happiness.
I thought life would all be plane sailing, but I was wrong! I know now that setbacks are a part of life for almost everyone. I also realise that setbacks come in many forms and often leave emotional scars. Overcoming setbacks is not easy, but learning how is important because happiness is at stake.
Today we describe the ability to overcome setbacks as resilience or grit.
Setbacks leave us feeling low, deflated, and uncertain.
We feel robbed of energy and motivation, but the most important thing to remember is that setbacks are not the end of our world!
They can be debilitating, but we do have the power to fight back.
Setbacks can have lasting effects!
For example, cultivating negative thoughts and emotions about ourselves can create lasting deep-seated self-beliefs that affect our state of mind.
In other words, even little emotional injuries can have lasting destructive effects if left untreated!
Therefore, overcoming setbacks is important because well-being improves!
Here are my tips for overcoming setbacks.
- The first step is acknowledgement. In other words, accept what happened and how we feel about it. This step helps us to process our emotions and consider our options.
- Step two is about challenging our thoughts and feelings. For example, it is about asking ourselves, “are the thoughts and feelings I am experiencing helpful or unhelpful for me”?
- Step three is about reframing our minds. This means we need to identify destructive thoughts and feelings and replace them with positive alternatives.
- Step four is all about perseverance. Reframing destructive thoughts and emotions with positive alternatives requires commitment and effort. In other words, it takes willpower.
- Step five is about time. Each person deals with setbacks and the associated destructive thoughts and emotions in their way, but the one constant is time. Time is a great healer.
Setbacks are a part of life!
One of the best things we can do is accept that we will experience setbacks in life.
Better still, expect them!
The power of expectation is enormous. Knowing that the unexpected is coming makes it easier to handle when it arrives.
Thinking this way is hugely advantageous because it cultivates a proactive mindset.
What defines us is how we deal with setbacks.
Anyone can overcome a setback, not just the chosen few!
It may not be easy, but with determination and perseverance, everyone can bounce back. The act of overcoming a setback builds resilience for the future.
You may also like this post: Hope – the neglected emotion | Mindscreen
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Helping Children Flourish
Gav Devereux
Author bio
Being diagnosed with dyslexia, labelled remedial, and regularly told that I was a “stupid boy” affected my self-esteem.
Worse still, I carried low self-worth into my adult life. Yet, later, when I learned how to challenge my destructive mindset, I began to feel happier.
I thought, if I can change my way of thinking, anyone can!
And so, in 1996 I founded Mindscreen and began developing resources to help children to believe in themselves and go after their dreams.
That’s how the Mindscreen experience® came into being. I hope it helps your children as much as it has helped me!