6 Ways to Bounce Back After a Professional Setback

When you work in the corporate world, you will have the chance to interact with skillful, talented people who can challenge your own abilities and motivate you to be better.

However, you may also encounter people in the industry who will harshly criticize your work and demand so much more from you, despite you already giving your work your all. A run-in with such people can leave you disheartened, fearful, and quite sad. 

At times, you may feel like it may be better to just quit your job. You are not alone in wanting to quit. A survey reveals that 34 percent of employees quit within their first three months of their job because of a negative experience.

Setbacks are common in the professional realm. This is a fact that you just have to accept. But throwing yourself a pity party or quitting every time you experience a setback will not help. If you have goals, you need to learn how to deal with setbacks. Otherwise, your professional life will not get anywhere.

How to Deal with Setbacks:

When you experience a professional setback, the right attitude is your best weapon. No matter how discouraging the situation is, possessing the right attitude will allow you to rise above the difficulty.

But, how exactly do you develop a powerful attitude to be able to turn a setback into a comeback? Here are six ways to do so.

1.  Think of the setback as just a moment in time:

If you think of it as just a moment, you can encourage yourself with the reminder that “this too shall pass.” Everything in this life is temporary and a day will come when what you have experienced will just be a distant memory. So, do not wallow in self-pity and suffer more than you need to. 

Tomorrow is a new day and it is an opportunity to make things better and even get them completely right.

2.  Do not take it personally.

Although your work may feel like an extension of yourself, it is not completely the person you are. Your professional life is just a small facet of who you are. 

When you get home, do your best to forget about what is breaking your heart at work and continue to live in joy with the people you love and love you back. You can use the support you get from your family to make improvements in your work.

3.  Assess yourself:

Look at the situation objectively and see where things actually went wrong. The criticisms may be valid. Perhaps, you missed important points or did not understand all the requirements of the tasks. Or maybe, you simply do not share the same opinions and views with the people who have evaluated your work, in which case you should defend and explain your work.

4.  Identify what you can do to be better:

After assessing yourself, find ways to improve yourself. Bouncing back stronger and better than ever is the best way to prove critics wrong. Develop more skills that are relevant to what you do. Having more skills can increase your value as a worker. At the same time, if the odds still do not work in your favor, you can have the confidence that you have a good skill set to earn you employment elsewhere.

Another thing that you can do is to sign up for coaching or training to learn more about your role in the organization you work for. Leadership coaching is always worth considering, especially if you have your eyes set on a higher position at work.

Just aspire to be more than you currently are so that you can contribute better and more to your company.

5.  Try something completely new:

This is a great strategy to execute when you are suffering from a setback. Trying something that you have never done before will take your mind off of how hurt you are and redirect your focus on learning something.

The act or process of discovery is a fantastic reminder that while you do not have everything completely figured out, there is always the opportunity to cease being clueless or lacking. You can gain a fresh perspective of what you are going through and proceed in life with more optimism instead of discouragement.

6.  Provide yourself with affirmations:

It always helps to remind yourself of the kind of person that you truly are that does not get fully displayed in a professional setting. Be your own encourager because, in a cutthroat professional world, you are your best support system. So, be kind to yourself.

The Right Attitude Sets You Up for a Strong Comeback:

Indeed, conquering setbacks is all about attitude. It will help you resist the pressure of intimidation and prevent you from swimming in a pool of other negative emotions. The right attitude helps you think of ways to rise above a setback and develop the courage to keep on going on the right (but often difficult) path for your career.

Author bio: Salma El-Shurafa is an experienced Executive Coach and founder of The Pathway Project. She is a Professional Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach from The Coaches Training Institute (CTI) and a graduate of CTI’s Co-Active Leadership program.