Dealing with setbacks

Setbacks

I define setbacks as bad things that happen that I was not expecting, like losing a client that I was thinking I was going to close, or having to not work for a few days because I am sick (happens so much more when you have a baby around!).

Below I share my tips on what has helped me deal with this situation, but the most important learning is to not react to quickly, and make sure you reflect.

How to identify setbacks

I am not very good at identifying when something a setback is bothering me. These are things that help me identify that I need to act on it:

Look for signals are when Im trying to complete tasks that are not in my todo just for completion

When that happen pause and think why am I agitated, what happened recently that might lead to this?

Ask my spouse routinely for feedback on how she is seeing me - she has a good spider sense to detect when something is bothering me before I do.

How to react to setbacks

When I recognize that something makes me feel uncomfortable and might hit my goals (eg. getting a bad review from a coaching client) I follow these steps:

Schedule time to worry about it and make a plan next day

Avoid working on it same-day as it might lead to emotional reaction (but might be necessary in some emergencies)

Having it schedule reduces a bit the anxiety - “I will have time to deal with this later

2. During the allotted time I reflect about:

Why am I feeling this about the situation?

How does this impact my goals?

If this impact my goals, how can I mitigate?

Who do I need to communicate about this to inform it?

3. Put in action the plan defined with the goal

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