ALL Setbacks Offer 2 “Plan Bs”

Recently I was having an interaction with an individual who, though they had a challenging but recoverable setback, was considering throwing in the towel on accomplishing something that was important to them. This got me thinking out loud that when we have a setback or disappointment, we have two “Plan Bs”. Specifically, we can either:

BE Discouraged
orBE Determined

It is really a binary solution. You will CHOOSE one plan or the other. That choice, according to a theorist called Seligman really depends on how you view setbacks and disappointments as captured in his theory of Permanence, Pervasiveness, and Personalization. Essentially, if you are prone to follow the BE DETERMINED plan, you will view setbacks as just a TEMPORARY CONDITION and NOT a PERMANENT STATE - a healthier and more empowering attitude I highly recommend! If you are more of a BE DISCOURAGED plan type, then the opposite becomes true. So if you want to become better at bouncing back from setbacks and disappointments, you should believe three very important things:

• Permanence – as shared above, this setback is not permanent, it is only temporary
• Pervasive – it is localized to just this one situation (too many people get caught up in the “if one thing is wrong in my life then everything else must be” theory)
• Personal – a setback is not an indictment on your character, skills, abilities, etc. It is what it is and the lessons you can learn from it along with your reactions can be transformational!

Trust me, I know this is not easy but I am more and more convinced that your beliefs drive your behaviors that eventually determine you results. There have plenty of opportunities that did not fall my way but there have been plenty that have! I can only encourage you to stick with it. Many times it is just that dogged refusal to give up that is the deciding factor between success and disappointment!

As always if I can help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact! Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization!

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Principal Consultant – Out Loud Strategies

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

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