Setback or Stepforward
“In moments of setback, how do you reframe to stay positive and keep moving forward?”
It was a question presented to me from a student at a recent “back-to-school” speaking event.
A new school year is full of uncertainty. Tons of opportunities for incredible things to happen, sure. But equally balanced by just as many “what ifs”
This isn’t about going back to school. It’s about waking up everyday with the confidence to do something that might feel scary… something that you might not feel qualified for… something you’ve been thinking about doing for years and you still haven’t taken the first step.
There’s never been a better time, so what if we made the decision to stop calling it a setback and calling it a stepforward?
That gives me a pretty clear idea of what to do next (TAKE THE STEP).
The words we choose and the emotions attached to them carry more power than we can imagine.
Sometimes we say we’re annoyed, then we get more annoyed because we think about how annoyed we are.
Sometimes we wonder… why even bother moving forward when it feels like the world is against us and everything we try is met with obstacles or failure?
We start training ourselves to see the obstacles because we see more of what we’re focusing on.
Are most things we try going to fail?
Yeah, probably.
So here’s the decision to be made.
Read that again. A decision you have to make…. a decision you get to make.
Does the fact that most things we try will fail give you all the evidence to quit or to keep going?
Same data. Same circumstances. Different outcome.
Somehow I learned early on that it’s not about making the right decisions. It’s about making decisions to take action. It literally doesn’t matter what I do. The benefits are just about equal no matter what I do as long as I create momentum by starting.
One foot in front of the other as we allow the path to be built in front of us.
The truth is I never know the right step to take, so I just go.
I make a lot of mistakes. Everyday is full of them.
Then I can correct the course and try again.
I don’t think we get better at picking the right steps, but we do get better at quickly adapting our direction and our path.
It doesn’t come from planning. It comes from taking the steps.
So how do I stay positive?
I suppose it comes down to asking myself what other option do I have?
Keep going or quit.
One of them sounds easy and tempting just about everyday when the obstacles appear.
But I never was one for taking the easy path.
I hope you take the step.
Just Go.
