The Art of Rebound: Turning Failure into Fuel for Success

In the pursuit of our goals, especially ones that are important to us and our emotions are riding on them, we sometimes fail to achieve them. There are a whole range of emotions that we may experience such as feeling proud that we did our best or excitement that even though we failed, we are getting closer to success. It would be great if it was always this way when we fail to achieve a goal and then we get back to pursuing our goal again, however we may find ourselves feeling anything but proud and excited. We may feel sad, frustrated, angry, disappointed, discouraged, defeated, lost, cheated, inadequate, or even depressed. We may slow down working towards our goal or consider giving up. What can those of us who find it challenging to continue pursuing our goals after a failure do to get back in action?

The issue to overcome is that dwelling on the negative emotions and negative thoughts derails us and keeps us stuck instead of moving forward. The more time we spend focusing on those thoughts and feelings, the more time and energy we waste. Feeling bad takes quite a bit of energy. It can be draining and we can feel worse over time.

This energy that we spend feeding the negative thoughts and emotions can be redirected towards pursuing our goals. The sooner that we refocus on our goals and get into action, the sooner we will feel better as well. We start moving towards something (our goal) instead of trying to move away from something (our failure). Moving on and getting back to working towards your goal can be easier said than done. If you are finding it difficult, you can follow these steps:

1. Notice your thoughts and feelings. You need to get them out of you so that they disappear and stop holding you back. You can try speaking them out loud to someone, writing them down, or yelling in a private and safe space if you feel angry. You need to let them out instead of suppressing them. Be thorough about this so that none of it lingers.

2. You might need to forgive yourself or show compassion to yourself, especially if you tend to be hard on yourself.

3.Refocus on what’s really important. It’s your goal, not your failure, feelings, or thoughts.

4.Identify any lessons that you can learn from the failure that will help you achieve your goal. Maybe you need to take a different approach, gain skills, get help from others, etc.

5.Identify the next set of actions or process to achieve your goal.

6.Take the first action.

You have probably heard multiple sayings about this topic that sound great. Get back on the horse. Get back in the saddle. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off.

Now go out and do it.

Keep playing, never quit.