The Key to getting back to writing after a setback
It’s been a week and I have barely written anything. I have a long list of pending drafts on Medium but I just don’t feel the urge to finish them, not even one. I don’t feel like writing.
As writers’ we have all faced this kind of situation. If you are striving hard in your professional life, setbacks are perfectly normal. Chances are you will experience plenty of such setbacks throughout your life.
But the real question is what you are going to do about it?
You have every reason to quit but do you really want that?
Well, I wanted to resume my life and get back on track. Realizing my situation is turning grim, I started a recovery process by inspecting my habits.
In this post, I would like to share my learning from the same.
Setbacks are as normal as having hiccups
The very first thing you need to do is accept the problem at hand and get over it. Yes, you faced a setback, now what? Drooling over the matter won’t make things easy. You need to change your mindset you have towards setbacks or failures in general.
Since childhood, we have been taught to be always right. Our life was driven by fear of failure.
What if I don’t score good marks?
What if I lose this job
Change your mindset about failures. They are just stepping stones to success, not a blocker.
Setbacks are like “hiccups”, they are not meant to stop you from living your life. It’s a part of your life and you deal it with calmness.
Don’t panic.
You are already feeling low, panicking will only add to your existing discomfort. At this stage, most people start consuming endless content on social media. Watching irrelevant content will not make you feel good about yourself.
You need to stop consuming content.
Instead, detach yourself from your current routine and turn off all your social media feeds. Try to relax your brain and body.
Go for long walks, swimming or exercise, these physical activities can help. Studies have actually proved that exercise helps you relax.
Setbacks Happen to Everyone (Even Successful People)
Every person on this earth faces setbacks. Even the person you look up for inspiration. Yes, throughout their journey they face multiple setbacks.
Sadly our society tends to highlight only the success stories and not the efforts and grit they put behind them.
For example, let’s take a look at the late Steve Jobs life. He co-founded Apple computers but had a rough journey with the company.
He was once removed from Apple computers. Jobs was heartbroken at that time but he did not give up. And we all know how he revolutionized the industry of mobile phones and personal computers.
Persistence always pays off
Stay In the Present
Obsession over what happened and reliving it over and over again will not bring peace to you. It will just stop your progress and hold you back. You are just wasting your time dwelling in the past.
I am responsible for this. Sometimes I tend to over-analyze things and incidents. However, I realized with time that not everything needs constant analysis. Sometimes letting go is the better option available.
Just live your life as nothing happened
Setbacks are always combined with encouraging statements from our loved ones like, “You will bounce back, don’t feel sad.”
These are quite true and are often said with pure intentions but why do you need to bounce back? You need to move forward right?
This goes without saying that there is nothing special about the current scenario. Don’t try to make it an issue, it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time that you have faced hurdles in your journey. There will be more, handle them naturally as you handle everything else in your life.
What is gone is gone, look ahead. It is useless to dwell in the past; it has nothing in store for us.
For me, it worked out, as I started creating more realistic goals and expectations. I questioned myself every time before creating a new goal: “Is this goal reasonable and within my limits?” I also started appreciating every small achievement and gave myself credit for it.
What is important is to remember that nothing is more important than your life and happiness. Setbacks are merely a slip and not a fall, you can always get back up.
