The power to Keep Moving Forward After a Setback

Don’t ever quit in the midst of a problem.

How many times have you thought of giving up after a significant setback? If you are like most entrepreneurs you’ve had your share of setbacks and sometimes you probably feel like quitting.

I’m not unique. I face problems in business and my personal life every day. I used to get so frustrated; I’d sit there, stew and think about quitting. The words ‘screw it’ were on the tip of my tongue so many times. Then I realized the time to quit is not in the midst of a problem, but actually when the problem is solved. It’s ok to quit when things are running smoothly again. But not until you fix the problem.

You’re probably thinking, “That’s crazy. Why would I quit when things are going well?” It comes down to confidence. We are a learning and adapting creature. We build our lives on a series of successes. The more epic the failure, the sweeter the victory. It’s not the same moving forward in life without learning the lessons presented to you by an obstacle like a significant setback.

You need to solve that setback to get to the next level in life. Sounds kind of new age motivational, but it’s true. Without accepting the challenge of the problem, your life won’t make the step to the next level.

So, now that we have all the ‘new age’ motivational stuff is out of the way, let’s get down to some practical solutions to keep moving forward when things seem to be falling apart.

In my experience the harder I pushed to solve a problem the worse the problem got or, the harder it became to understand. At that point, it is just best to take a slight step back and allow things to cool. Reevaluate them from a clear fresh perspective. Sometimes a cooling down period can take a day. Sometimes it can take a week. The idea is to step away and think about how important it is in the broader landscape. Allow your brain time to quiet.

I find myself moving to other projects for a while and let that project simmer. Sometimes, somehow, miraculously things might fix themselves. Whether they do work out on their own or not, you will be able to start…

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