Let’s face it. The past year has been a tough one. Mentally and physically many of us just aren’t where we would like to be. A major global pandemic can do that. 2021 came, and somehow just like that we are already headed into the fourth month of the year. With the new year, we all wanted so desperately to rid ourselves of all the bad vibes that came with 2020. We all wished that the pandemic would just end and we could move on, we set high expectations. 2021 was meant to be our year! If you have fallen off the wagon, don’t stress. It’s not too late.
How to get back up:
It can be so difficult to take our failures with a grain of salt. Most of us beat ourselves up on the daily about not achieving our goals. Instead, we need to focus on building compassion and confidence in ourselves.
1.Reframe Failure If we take a chance and change our perspective, we can begin to see failure as an asset. We will begin to see failure as a way to lean, improve, and potentially (& hopefully) try again. This gives us a chance to reflect on where we went wrong and gather information about what our strengths are. When we fail and things don’t go our way we should always reflect and ask what we have learned about the situation and ourselves in general. Picking yourself back up and trying again is a sign of resilience.
2. Focus on the Process We should begin to see that goals are the final destination, and the process that leads us there is our journey. The time spent in our journey is where we learn about ourselves. When we focus on the process, and not the end result we are able to zoom in on all of the positive benefits of our efforts. It becomes likely that we are learning, growing, and changing for the better, even if you fall a little short of our goals. We should focus less about the accomplishment, and more about the act of getting there.
3. Acknowledge your Strengths and Weaknesses When you try to get back up after falling off the wagon, you may discover strengths about yourself you didn’t know you had. When you get back up to try again, you can create a plan that hi-lights and utilizes these strengths. If a goal is worth accomplishing, it’s worth trying again and again to accomplish.
4. Look at How Far You’ve Come Remember the progress that you have made. Even if it’s hard for you to see, it’s very likely that you’ve made some steps forward. Baby steps can bring about lasting change in life. Even when we don’t achieve our end goal, we still make steps forward and learn about ourselves through the process.
5. Give Yourself Credit Congratulate yourself for how far you’ve come. We often are so self critical that we think there nothing worth celebrating, but knowing that you deserve a big pat on the back is crucial!
6. Set Yourself Up For Success During this process, we may realize that our goals aren’t truly aligned with what we want in our lives. In this case, it’s okay to let them go. If our goals are truly what we want, all we can do is get back up and try again. Each time, there are steps we can take to be more and more successful each and every time. Evaluate your process and see what can be changed/improved and if anything new can be implemented that will help you reach your goals.
Takeaway:
With a Global pandemic, and a million other crazy things going on in our world right now. It’s really common for our goals to not go as planned. Failure isn’t a reason to give yourself a harder life. Instead, we should begin to use failure as an opportunity to improve and start over whenever you are ready.
You haven’t truly failed, you’ve just given yourself a head start!
