How to Overcome Setbacks?

My this post talks about something which almost me, you or any other person might have came across in their life and that is “Setbacks”. My last post which was not related to Data Security and Backup was “How to Set Goals”.

Our attitude determines how we look at a setback.

Setbacks can come in everyone’s life. Imagine you have worked hard for one of the most important exams along with all the mates in your class and when result comes out you find out you have not been able to clear exams, or you have worked hard to launch a product in market and was not accepted or unsuccessful as you would wish. These can be setbacks, but to a positive thinker, it can be a stepping stone to success. To a negative thinker, it can be a stumbling block.

Thomas Edison at age 67, lost his factory, to fire. Edison watched his lifetime effort go up in smoke and said “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burnt up. We can start a new.” In spite of disaster, three weeks later, he invented the phonograph.

I have come across a couple of real life examples related to setbacks. Let me share with you 2 of those.

This example is of one of my buddies, who had 3 paint factories and about 100 people working for him. His business was doing well and I use to go for our Software Implementation. Down the line after couple of years, [we were not connected with each other as once the software was implemented they had decided to go by themselves], I incidentally had got a contract to implement software in a nearby company of the same. As, I went the first day at the new implementation company, I saw the paint factory was kind of closed. During, implementation I had a discussion regarding the paint factory, one of the employees their stated the company and owner went bankrupt and the owner once who had a fleet of cars, was running a small paint trader shop in the nearby area. I was shocked and went on to meet the owner. We had a cup of tea together and ran through some emotions. Anyways, life moves on, the man had courage, now he has setup back to his own factory. Although not 3 which he had before but he has started 1 now.

It takes lot of courage and character to stand up from this situation.

Setbacks are inevitable in life. A setback can act as a driving force and also teach us humility. In grief you will find courage and faith to overcome the setback. We need to learn to become victors, not victims. Fear and doubt short-circuit the mind.

Ask yourself after every setback: What did I learn from this experience? Only then will you be able to turn a stumbling block into a stepping stone.

 

The journey to being your best is not easy. It is full of setbacks. Winners have the ability to  overcome and bounce back with even greater resolve.

My second scenario is of someone whom I know for years. The guy was a franchisee owner of a fortune 500 branded company in the field of Electronics. Again, I had done Software Implementation for them and the owner had a close relation with me. One fine day, for whatever reason I heard he had lost his franchisee the company with whom he was doing business. That was not it, he had gone in debt of few millions. When you tie up with any major companies as franchisee they ask for deposit amount and stocks to keep, despite all debt already mounted, to come out of this situation he tied up another company.  When I met him the last time, about a year and a half back he had cleared all his debt and was back to profit wheels.

These people had setbacks in their lives, they could have hung up, cried and never stand up, but instead of that they decided to take challenge. Even, today I speak to these people and enjoy discussing good and rough times of life.

When problems seem insurmountable, quitting seems to be the easiest way out. Winners are struck but not destroyed. We all have had setbacks in life. Failing does not mean we are failures.

Hope I was able to send my message across. Feel free to share this article if you like.