5 Tips to Recover From a Setback at Work

Setbacks at work can be challenging and flat out frustrating. You may have missed a deadline, a project you worked incredibly hard on wasn’t as successful as you planned, or you didn’t hit your numbers or quota for the month. In the face of these types of complications you’re left feeling discouraged and defeated.

So, what should you do when you encounter a setback? And more importantly, how do you learn from it? Even the world’s most successful individuals have experienced their fair share of setbacks, and most likely wouldn’t be where they are today without them. Let’s take a look at some techniques to recover and learn from these challenges.

REFLECT

After running into a roadblock in the workplace or in your career, it’s important to recognize the emotions you may be feeling, even if they’re negative. In the aftermath, it can be difficult to reflect on these emotions in an objective manner. You’re most likely upset that you’ve let yourself — and potentially your employer and colleagues down — and your next steps may seem uncertain. Keep in mind that these feelings, while they may be at the forefront of your mind now, are temporary. Be patient with yourself and give yourself time to recover.

While it may be tempting, don’t fall into the trap of blaming yourself or others for the problem you were faced with. Take a step back and think critically about why you’re feeling this way about the situation. Below are some helpful questions to ask yourself during the reflection process:

• What specifically is causing me to feel this way?
• What could I have done differently?
• Could I have handled or reacted to the situation differently?
• What can I learn from this experience?

Journaling can be a great way to organize your thoughts on paper and clear your mind. As an added bonus, you’ll have your reflections to look back on if you ever find yourself in a similar situation in the future.

REQUEST FEEDBACK

Don’t hesitate to rely on your support system after experiencing a setback. Once you’ve taken some personal time to reflect, reach out to a mentor, manager, colleague or someone you can confide in. These individuals are valuable resources and they can provide you with objective feedback. Make sure you speak with someone who’s an effective listener and who excels at giving constructive feedback.

Be open to his or her thoughts and ideas on the situation. It can be difficult to listen to other opinions, but don’t take the feedback personally or react defensively. Feedback is an opportunity to inspire and motivate — and it’s an essential part of learning from setbacks and moving past them.

REFRAME

While it may be difficult to stop yourself from fixating on the challenge, you will eventually recognize the event is behind you. The situation is what it is — and you don’t have the ability to go back in time and change what happened — no matter how much you would have preferred a different outcome.

Over time, your previous setbacks will seem inconsequential. However, you cannot forget their importance and recognize the opportunity in the setbacks and the lessons you learned from them. While they may be painful at the time, remember each bump in the road is contributing to your progress and growth as an individual.

Reframing your challenges as opportunities for improvement will help you develop a growth mindset. The growth mindset, introduced by psychologist Carol Dweck, is the idea that your abilities can be developed. You believe you can grow your skills through hard work and strategy. Developing a growth mindset helps you approach a setback with an analytical viewpoint — and this allows you to keep the setback in perspective and put you in a better position to rebound from it.

READJUST

When you experience a challenge, how you recover from the feeling of defeat is incredibly important. If you think of the the setback as an exciting opportunity to grow, you’ll be much more motivated to set up a strategy for your future success. Sophia Amoruso, founder of Nasty Gal, framed it this way in her book #GIRLBOSS:

When you approach everything as if it’s a big, fun experiment, then it’s not that big of a deal if things don’t work out.

There is no guidebook to success — you have the ability to forge your own path and define what success means to you. It can be helpful to ask yourself some critical questions when developing your strategy. Here are a few example questions you can ask yourself:

• Which actionable steps can I take to improve my projects in the future?
• What techniques can I implement during the workday that will better help me hit my numbers or quota?
• Are there any skills I need to develop in order to action the steps towards my goal?

When setting goals, focus more on process oriented goals rather than outcome oriented goals. While it can be beneficial to visualize the final outcome you’d like to achieve — think about your goal in more detail and lay out the steps you’ll need to take in order to reach that goal. By being strategic in how you approach new opportunities and goal setting, you’ll be setting yourself up for success — no matter what your definition of success is.

RESILIENCE

Merriam-Webster defines resilience as “the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” In the workplace, change is expected and setbacks will be something you’ll have to face no matter which phase of your career you’re in. How will you react when the next challenge presents itself? Will you persevere and strategically set new goals?

Ultimately, the roadblocks you encounter will make you a stronger, adaptable and resilient individual. With time and practice, you’ll be well equipped to take on any new challenges that may come your way. And your setbacks will be the catalysts for your future breakthroughs and successes.

Originally published at www.meredithsadventurebook.com.