Life and business are full of complications, disappointments and flops. Anyone who has ever tried anything has experienced an occasional stumbling block. Resilient people manage to persevere and bounce back from adversity. Here are five things that resilient people do after a setback that keeps them on track:
- Remain hopeful: This does not mean unrealistic Pollyanna thinking, but resilient people don’t get bogged down in disappointment and despair. They embrace the potential of the next chance. They use phrases like “yet,” and “this time” to describe the situation implying that at some time they will be successful.
- Avoid the blame game: Excessive blaming is a triggered response to negative emotions. Though blaming might momentarily deflect discomfort, it distracts from what needs done. Resilient people find constructive ways to manage their emotions so that they don’t need to waste time blaming. They take accountability for their own feelings and behaviors so they can move on to better things.
- Celebrate success: Resilient people have a knack for finding the upside of even the biggest setbacks. They recognize that even if they did not achieve the outcome they desired they might have made some progress. Acknowledging small successes keeps them focused in the right direction.
- See learning opportunities: Let’s face it, not everything can or should be celebrated. But everything can be an opportunity to learn and resilient people know that. They look at what went wrong only to learn how to do it better.
- Do things differently: To be accurate, resilient people don’t really bounce back; they bounce forward. They do that by adjusting their approach based on what they learned from past experiences. They don’t repeat mistakes they just repeat attempts at success. Eventually they move past the setback and on to something better.