There was a time in my not-so-distant past, when I would let every little problem that came along send me into a tail spin. Can you identify with that at all?
Well, how quickly you can “cool down’ and recover from these problems (negative situations) actually tells you a lot about yourself.
Here’s why I say that. No matter what you want the most, if it’s a big enough goal, you can rest assured that, sooner or later, you will meet with resistance from the outside world. I have seen this happen in my own life again and again. The resistance could come in the form of little delays, mistakes by you or someone else, criticism, jealousy, accidents, temptations, cancellations, lost opportunity – big and small failures alike.
In order to be the most effective, you need to get solving things within milliseconds – that means no rages, no yelling, no crying and no delays. Just take it all in stride and get moving on the solution.
The solution starts by asking yourself empowering questions such as, What does this mean? How can I fix this now? What is the best thing to do this very second? How can I help? What can I do to get back on course quickly?
In addition, your self-dialog should include such statements as I’m fortunate . . . it could have been a whole lot worse. I can still get to where I want to go. This was just a speed bump.
And if you really want to be high effective, you will plan for problems before you even begin. That way you won’t get blindsided so easily. The key is to mentally practice what you will do in all kinds of sticky situational scenarios long before they ever happen.
Tell yourself that all setbacks are small and temporary. And when you believe this, down to the very core of your being, it will take something enormous to dampen your spirit and make you quit. Think of this as developing a mental ability – the ability to shrink and quickly move past your challenges. This will make you virtually unstoppable in your pursuit of your dreams.
Deborah (Debbie) Stevens is an MBA, CPA, Money Maven who offers down to earth accounting, tax and consulting services, is a health and fitness coach, and jewelry designer and re-engineerer. With more than 10 years in public accounting and 6 years in private industry, her boundless energy and talents are now focused on making small businesses successful by analyzing the problems, discussing the issues, and crafting the appropriate solutions. Her strong, personal integrity, hard work, sheer determination coupled with a deep fun-loving view of life are what makes her tick. After having lost 116 lbs in 15 months, she has recently added weight loss and fitness coaching into the business mix. She is passionate about everything she does with a deep desire to help people. She is personable, down to earth, and ready to roll up her sleeves and get started on your business solutions. 
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Loving your work Debbie… always!
This reminds me of the touch it once philosophy: you see the solution , or the thing — whatever — that needs to be done to make it happen, and you do that, Until Done.
Hopefully that’s only a few hours
~ Love
Great advice Debbie. I found you through Edward Elliot’s Face Book Comment. What a great way to handle those bumps in the road.
Mindset is so important when we are working our own business. We really can’t afford to have those setbacks. You have written a great way to handle them.
Thanks for the info
Donna
Hi Debbie,
I can relate to this and I too have found that by adding more fuel to a negative situation can spiral things way out of control. By jumping in and getting things sorted out, the negative situation can fizzle out to nothing in a small space of time.
When you’ve got a dream and a strong desire to achieve that dream nothing can get in your way!
Cheers, Lynn
I found you through Debbie Z Lattuga’s Facebook posting.
I will use the message of your post in three hours. I am developing a process to complete samples for a new client project for my brand new business. I am working with someone who is finding this more challenging than I am.
It is an important project that is due tomorrow morning and there have been a couple of the set backs that you mentioned.
I know that it will work out. And I am determined to enjoy getting there and to ignore other’s negativity!
Thank you for the very timely words!
Debbie,
Thinking of setbacks as small and temporary is a perfect way to shrink them into a position that’s easy to handle. So often it is easy to blow them way out of proportion and lose valuable time.
I just used your example while attempting to shoot a video with my son. It worked! A fiasco was turned around. Thanks, my friend!
Great post Deb
I find myself going through a lot of that and having a hard time getting back up some times. Thank you for the great advice and suggestions of things to do ahead of time.
Debbie, I like to call my setbacks “My Left Turns” You are right on about correcting them quickly. Leaving them go will only compound the problems because another set back Or “Left Turn” only has you going in the opposite direction. Good content and a post we need.
Hi Debbie,
Good advice. There will always be bumps in the road. The key is to keep progressing even though a setback occurs. We can’t let them permanently keep us down.
Great reminders for us all, especially about reacting negatively when things go wrong. That just reinforces the negative situation and it will take longer for you to recover. Asking the questions you suggested empowers us to find solutions quickly!
Hey Debbie~
As they say, ‘he who prepares shall not fail’ and as you say, that’s what we need to do! You’ve given great advice here! Thank you!
~Linda