HOW TO DEAL WITH SETBACKS

The one thing you can expect in life is that unexpected things will happen.

Mercury Retrograde and Murphy’s Law have been ruling my world lately. There have been small mishaps like spilling a cup of tea on my sketchbook oh no! I’ve also had some pretty major setbacks like putting final touches on a client project only to have hours of tedious work vanish into thin air, oh hell no! It hasn’t been fun. In fact, it’s been downright stressful – but, that’s the way life is sometimes.

If you experience similar rough patches, I want to share how I’ve been staying cool and keeping things moving in the right direction during the chaos.

PAUSE & PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE

When you are in the midst of a crisis it seems counter-intuitive to take a pause, but you should give it a try. Stopping for a moment to take a deep and put things in perspective can make a big difference. It’s helped me remove my emotions from the equation, and focus on the variables I can control.

PIVOT

After  you’ve put things in perspective and have clarity about how circumstances have changed, it’s time to move om to plan B…or C…or D. It’s essential to have a back-up plan (or two) and to be able to think on your toes. The quicker you can be decisive about what needs to be done, the sooner you can get back on track.

PERSEVERE

Once you decide on a course of action, stick to it and soldier through until you get through the crisis. There’s no point wondering about “what ifs” and pouting that things didn’t go as originally planned. Commit to the new plan and “git ‘er done”.

PLAY IT BACK

After working through a crisis, take a moment to play it back and evaluate what you can do better next time. Don’t dwell on what went wrong or force yourself to re-live stressful moments, just try to come up with a few items that will give you peace of mind about avoiding similar issues in the future.

For example:

• Getting a spill-proof tea mug will prevent my sketch book from getting ruined
• Setting a pop-up reminder to save my work periodically help me lose hours/days of work if things get “glitchy”

POUR A GLASS OF WINE

Last, but not least, pour yourself a glass of wine (or a Shirley Temple). Celebrate the fact that you made it through the crisis(es) and you’ve fine-tuned your game plane so that you are better prepared for the future. Cheers to that!