We know this year is just starting, BUT let’s get real … S**T HAPPENS.
A lead investor backs out … that big deal falls through … a team member quits … distributions were miscalculated … you and your partners aren’t aligned … cash is running low …
You get the idea. Business can be messy.
The hard truth is … there’s no bullet-proof plan for eliminating physical, emotional or financial set-backs in business and in life.
HOWEVER …the ultimate edge is recovering faster from setbacks.
Recovering from setbacks means … we get the lesson, acknowledge our part in it, and establish safeguards to prevent similar setbacks going forward.
When we shrink the amount of time setbacks impact our focus, energy, habits, and actions … the more direct our route to achievement can be.
So, right now … pause for a moment …
AND think of one challenge, setback, or obstacle you’ve experienced in your business within the last 12-months …
If it popped right to mind … great! If you’re struggling to think of one, then your current setback might be “paralysis of analysis” OR “lack of vision and discipline”.
We know this because … when entrepreneurs are clear about their vision and pushing hard for growth setbacks are regular occurrences.
If you have a laundry list of setbacks, then you’re pushing hard for growth – congratulations!
Okay … so now … think one last time and select your primary setback.
With your one setback top of mind … Ask yourself …
When did this setback first occur? Specific date?
How long did it take to resolve?
What has it cost me? Emotionally? Mentally? Physically? Financially? Relationally?
If I had recovered faster, what might I be experiencing more of right now? More clarity, time, energy, money, happiness, fulfillment, confidence?
What beliefs and emotions am I still carrying around from this setback that are impacting my choices today?
The game of business becomes much more fun when we measure how quickly we recover from setbacks.
The first time I did this exercise, my stats were not good. The setback took 6 months and cost me over $100K … not-to-mention, lost opportunity costs.
A man next to me experienced a setback that cost him nearly $25M and his marriage.
By no means is this exercise meant as a tool to beat ourselves up with. Instead, the goal is to figure out our starting point and work to improve the speed of recovery.
The steps for recovering faster from setbacks are …
Acknowledge setbacks are normal and will happen regularly when pushing for growth
Quickly identify a setback as a setback
Take an objective view of each setback and dissect the setback to get the lessons (aka growth opportunities)
Armed with this new awareness, resolve the current setback and establish systems to minimize similar setbacks in the future
Evaluate any limiting beliefs which may have formed due to this setback and eliminate any residual baggage
That’s it! Easy-breezy … rinse, lather, repeat. Jim Rohn defines easy as “something you can do”.
You might be thinking … BUT, why do setbacks knock us off longer than we’d like?
While the steps to recover faster from setbacks are easy, the internal process to perform the steps is challenging.
They are challenging because we are human. And when we’re on the brink of massive growth, we all experience something Steven Pressfield calls resistance.
We revert to blaming others for the setback, pinning the responsibility on the economy, distracting ourselves with everything but what matters most, and the list of ways we have invented resistance is endless …
Whatever age you are now … is the amount of years you’ve been experiencing setbacks.
Now, it’s likely the primary setback you selected above was a major setback. A blow that knocked you off pretty significantly.
But, let’s take a look at “smaller” setbacks. The little grievances that are more likely to sneak under the radar …
For instance, lack of sleep, skipping a workout, a small disagreement with your spouse, a messy desk, slow internet, poor planning,miscommunication, unclear goals, tolerating a bad attitude, under-performing tools … you get the idea.
The big and small setbacks both weigh us down. They take up space in our minds and emotions. Our subconscious minds are on high-alert to resolve the growing list of setbacks we’re experiencing.
So, again, the game becomes how fast can we identify a setback, address the setback, get the lesson, and go back to our high-performing selves.
The lighter we are emotionally and psychologically on a daily basis … the more equipped we are with perspective, agility, and decisiveness to make the most important things happen.
And at the end of the day, our mission as entrepreneurs is to solve real-world problems that we’re uniquely qualified to solve.
Collecting setbacks without processing setbacks can lead to an avalanche of stress and wasted time & energy that has the potential to flatline productivity.
And that is the opposite of our job as entrepreneurs. So, let’s not let this be us.
Instead, let’s be quick to identify & solve setbacks and efficient in eliminating residual baggage SO THAT we keep the main thing … bringing more value to the lives we influence and being richly rewarded for doing so!
For Help Recovering from Setbacks and Eliminating Baggage From Your Business ...
Staci Gray has over two decades of experience organizing real-world businesses to scale. She puts an emphasis on quickly collapsing the gap between ideas and profits by persistently executing for progress and results. Staci envisions a world where innovative leaders are no longer trapped by operational chaos and instead are empowered to efficiently and effectively solve real-world problems, impact real-people on a human level and generate profits quickly. Staci loves coming alongside mission-driven leaders who are using their ideas, influence and intellect to build successful businesses and empowering them to scale without losing their sanity, compromising their values, sacrificing their relationships, and drowning in operational chaos. Supporting leaders one business at a time!
