Have you set yourself a goal, or maybe even New Year’s Resolutions, only to have them fall by the wayside? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Setbacks are a part of life, it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Hiccups don’t make you a failure, they make you human. The most successful people slip up on their healthy habits and fall off the wagon when they’re trying to achieve their goals. What makes them the most successful isn’t their ability to avoid setbacks, it’s their ability to get back on track, quickly.
The difference between success and going off course is, if, when, and how you get back up.
The best strategy then isn’t to avoid setbacks; it’s to plan for them. Here are three key setback strategies to get you back in the saddle and on your way to success.
Resilience —Setbacks are inevitable. As an inventor, Thomas Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked him, “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 1,000 times. I didn’t even fail one time. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”
If you choose to view your setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow, they stop becoming ‘failures’ and start becoming opportunities for you to refine and grow and develop as a person.
Consistency —Consistency is the secret sauce to forming new habits and achieving your goals. Try and stick to your planned goals to maintain momentum, even if it means doing half of what you intended to do (such as a 10-minute walk instead of a 20-minute walk). Rather than aiming for perfection, let go of all-or-nothing thinking and know that you are still on track to reaching your goals, because every little bit counts.
Self-efficacy — Self-efficacy is the confidence and assurance in your own personal ability; it’s absolutely believing that you can and will achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself. Having self-efficacy has a strong correlation with success.
Self-belief fuels commitment, stimulates action and persistence and allows you the grace to see setbacks for what they are, temporary hurdles.
As C.S. Lewis quotes “We are what we believe we are”. Believe in yourself and you’re halfway there. Repeat after me, “I can do this”.