Bounce Back

Have you ever felt defeated?  Feel stuck in a rut?  Can’t seem to find the way through?  Don’t know what to do next?  What do you do to break through that situation?  What tools do you have in your arsenal to change perspective and see other possibilities?

I have always been impressed with professional athletes.   The discipline and hard work that they put into their game as well as their mental strength to keep on going.   The aspect that impresses me the most is how they bounce back after a lost or defeat.  Failure is part and parcel of life and it must be harder if losing is something that you have deal with week in and week out.  All of us face situations where we feel defeated, rejected and down right miserable.  That’s normal.  However, the difference between someone who is successful is their ability to bounce back.  Bounce back more matured, stronger and wiser.  So what’s the secret?

I think that there are 3 keys to bouncing back after a setback and they are:

1. Self Belief :  Believing in your purpose (why you are doing what you are doing), talents/skills that you have and have developed to be able to perform the job and deep rooted belief that you are able to achieve the goals that you have set out.
2. Discipline Mind:  Discipline is the most important requirement to being successful.  The discipline to continue to work hard and work smart to achieve your  goals.  The self discipline to work through the challenges and not give up.  The discipline to put structures in place to help you achieve a milestone.
3. Optimism:  The great “jedi” mind power that basically looks at the bright side of things ALWAYS.  Seeing the improvements in any situation, learning from the mistakes and making the small minute changes and simply never letting a situation get you down for too long.

We all have some measure of the above attributes.  What can we do to move the needle forward?  Ask yourself the following questions:

1. What is my purpose?  Can you summarise your purpose in two words?  When what we do is aligned with our deep sense of purpose, our resolve is strongest.
2. Take an inventory of your strengths and weaknesses, and successes and mistakes.  What can you takeaway from them?  What can you put into the “self belief” bucket that you can look at when you need a little motivation and push forward?
3. Ask the question “What if …?”  The “What if?” question is powerful to set your mind into the realm of possibilities.  It starts a new creative thought process in your mind to help you break through situations where you feel stuck.  It gives you a powerful new option to think differently, out-of-the-box thinking and is an essence of optimism.  Having the ability to see the upside of situations.
4. Just take the next step.  Put into action what you have planned.  Plans are only useful when executed.

The ability to bounce back is key to moving forward well.  The ability to shake off the bad and embrace the good.  Life is like a game of sports, we win some and we lose more but we are in it because we love the game, love the adrenalin rush of playing the game and love the impact that we can make.