Everybody’s been there. You’re cruising through life, soaring to new heights with minimal problems, and it’s like you’re headed for the top of the world, but suddenly, something throws you for a loop. It feels like you’re flying in circles on black ice headed for a cliff and everything you’ve been working towards feels so far away. Feelings of anger and frustration, grief and sadness, or apathy and confusion become things you suddenly have to work through, but it is absolutely possible. When life gives you a significant setback, you will get through it.
Keeping a Positive State of Mind
After dealing with a major setback to your life’s goals, it is more important than ever to maintain a positive outlook on life. People may say this as if it’s so easy, but it can be immensely challenging to get back to a good state of mind after a setback. A tool you can use to get back to your positive state of mind is retraining your thoughts.
Negative thoughts are bound to happen when you have negative feelings or experiences happening. When this happens, think, “I reject this thought.” Then, replace that thought with something positive instead. Don’t self-punish for negative thoughts and don’t feel bad about having them. They are a normal reaction to abnormal life experiences. You can be your own motivational cheerleader when you gain control of your mind.
Work Through Your Emotions
After a significantly awful event, you’re bound to be going through some pretty intense emotions. There are several ways you can get through processing them, but it’s imperative that you do. Bottling up emotions is notoriously the path toward an explosive episode and is extremely bad for your mind and even physical health. It can manifest as stress or negativity or even depression, and these can manifest in physical symptoms such as chest pains, headaches, tingling, and fatigue.
You can work through your emotions by talking to a friend or family member about the events that transpired. Tell them how you’re feeling and what happened, or how it halted your current life’s trajectory. Talking can be the ultimate release of tension, bringing you back into a space where you can be filled with love, peace, and motivation. I
f you feel like you can’t talk it out with a friend or family member, you can seek out a professional therapist who can listen to your story and help you navigate your emotions so you can get back on track for success.
If talking doesn’t help you much, then consider picking up a journal to write it out. Make sure you envision yourself releasing this muck out of you and never return to it again. If it comes up again, keep working through it until you can finally move on.
Failure Isn’t an Option
It’s important to remember that bad things happen to everyone and they are part of the life journey. You can’t stay there in it though, because even if you chose to do so, life would eventually force you out anyway. You have to keep going and keep reminding yourself what your goals are and how you plan on getting there.
Make a small bit of progress every day and eventually, you can’t possibly feel like you are failing. It’s always possible to get back up from the ground, even if your destination has to change. Embracing life and learning lessons through hardship will only add to your character and make life easier in the future. Failing is inevitable, but getting back up and moving forward with your life is your choice.
With these tools in mind, you can achieve anything you want in life. It’s up to you to keep your mind clean, get back up, and move forward toward your goals and happiness. When you put your mind to it, you are capable of great heights. Good luck!
