If you're new here, subscribe to the RSS feed! You'll get articles on how to use improv to improve your life!

Setting goals is one of the most important things you can do. Goals give you something to strive for, to put energy into, and to complete successfully. And when you do complete a goal successfully, you feel great.

But sometimes things don’t go as you plan. Sometimes you’ll put a lot of work into a project, and then everything falls apart. Suddenly, the goal becomes as unreachable as when you first started. You have to backtrack, and possibly start over. That sucks.

Disappointment is a very hard thing to endure, and that’s where I start using Yes, And.

It’s very easy to take disappointment as a moment of irreversible failure. The only thing you can do in the moment is feel bad. Feeling bad is fine, and it’s important to process through appropriate emotion. But you can only feel bad for so long.  Then what? “Yes, And” the disappointment.

-YES:

Accept the failure, do not reject it. - Accept that something caused the failure. It wasn’t just something that just happened. There are reasons why choices are made, and those specific choices lead to a break in the path to success.

Find what led to the failure. Why did the process fall apart? - Make sure you know exactly why something failed. Make sure to gather as much information as you can. Communication is key. Know as much as you can about the situation before taking action. Getting important information after taking new action can lead to more disappointment.

Were the choices made external or internal to the failure? - Know this: you can only control yourself. If the choices made were external (where other people made the failure happen), accept that, and let it go. However, what you can control are the choices you made (internal).

Go back, and see what could have been done to avoid failure. - Remember, you can only control yourself, so what choices could YOU have made to change the course of events?

-AND:

List the actions you will take to succeed - Write it down, talk it out, anything to get it out of your head. Brainstorm what you need to do. Eventually, you’ll have a plan of attack to move forward.

Take action - Gather all your information, and start putting into action the things to succeed. Do it now. Not in a day. Not in an hour, NOW. The sooner you start taking action, the sooner you will leave the stage of feeling bad. If something can’t be put into action now, then write down the actions you will take to succeed. This will motivate you to take action when you have time.

Stick with it - After the “feeling bad stage”, you may feel extremely motivated to take action. But how will you feel as time passes? The same drive may not remain, but each action you take is another step towards success. Create a schedule or system so you can take steps towards success.

Disappointment is painful, but it can inspire you to take action to be a better person.

Do you have any tips for dealing with disappointment?  Leave a comment!

Popularity: 57%