Setbacks are a normal part of life and work — and let’s face it, you’re likely to encounter many throughout your working career. They don’t discriminate either: it doesn’t matter if you’re the best performing team member, an award-winning CEO, or the new kid…
Setbacks are a normal part of life and work and lets face it, youre likely to encounter many throughout your working career.
They dont discriminate either: it doesnt matter if youre the best performing team member, an award-winning CEO, or the new kid on the block.
The truth is that there will be times when you have to rectify mistakes and solve problems on the fly.
Some setbacks will be small the kind that entail you working late one evening and others will have a profound impact on your professional and personal life.
With this in mind, here are five sensible tips to help you deal with setbacks at work in calm and collected manner.
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Own it
You need to keep it real. If theres a problem, you first need to identify the issue and acknowledge it.
It can be tempting to brush things aside when youre busy but this wont make the problem go away if anything it might make it get worse.
The quicker you acknowledge theres an issue, the easier it will be to solve.
For example, its recently come to your attention that a third-party supplier will struggle to meet a deadline youve set. As a result, theres a significant chance you wont be able to deliver to your client on time.
Dont ignore the issue, tackle it head on. Speak to your supplier, try and find a solution, and then communicate this to the client. That way, if youre going to struggle to meet the deadline, your customer will know well in advance. Youll save yourself a lot of sweat and tears!
It wont last
Setbacks can be stressful and although it may seem like the world is crashing down on your shoulders at one particular point in time, dont forget that its not the end of the world.
It may feel like the be all and end all but as time passes youll realize it wasnt probably as big a deal as you thought.
Youll probably look back in hindsight and ask yourself why you got so worked up in the first place.
Next time you find yourself in a tricky solution remember that things can and will get better.
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No, youre not a failure
Suffering a setback at work doesnt make you a failure. In fact, its just part of life.
Take the problem at face value and make peace with the fact that its an isolated incident.
Change your internal dialogue, dont put yourself down, and dont dwell on what you cant control or solve.
Whatever happens, you need to realize that its not going to determine who you are or who you will be in the future. Plus, everyone makes mistakes and its about how you learn from them that counts.
Ask for help
Dont feel like you have to do it alone.
If youre really stuck, lean on your colleagues and ask for help.
Explain what the problem is and what challenges youre facing.
Be transparent and communicate. Tell them how the issue is affecting you no one expects you to be superhuman so dont expect that of yourself.
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Move on
Its so easy to get caught up in what went wrong, how you could have acted differently, or what you should have avoided.
However, the truth is that whats done is done and while you should totally learn from every experiences (and mistakes!) its equally important to move on.
Once youve solved the issue at hand, shift focus to another project. New goals will give you a fresh perspective and a much needed dose of enthusiasm.
Youll be much more motivated and hopefully too busy to think about any past setbacks or mistakes.
So, next time you come across a setback at work, remember to keep calm and take yourself through these easy, yet useful, steps.
Published July 2, 2020 — 09:31 UTC