Learn to handle setbacks.  We all have occasions when we fail or when we are not able to accomplish that which we wanted to do.  Learning to handle these situations will allow us to have the energy required to try again.  Without this energy, any setback, will stop any effort that we’re making and will stop us almost as soon as we got started.

You can never plan for everything.  Life is an open system, where anything can be introduced at any time.  This means that there is no way to be able to plan for every single circumstance.  As a result, the only thing that you can do is your very best in any situation, but always understand that there will be unforeseen events that might hinder you.

When you are faced with a setback, always try and maintain a sense of humor.  Most often the best way to deal with these unforeseen circumstances and failures is to have the ability to laugh at yourself.  Try not to take yourself too seriously and laugh at what you cannot change.  We all fail and we all suck on occasion, laughing at our foibles is the only way sometimes to cure ourselves from the demon of personal doubt.

When you have a setback try and talk it out.  If you have a good friend or confidant then all the better, use this person as a sounding board to see what you did wrong and how you can improve.  You can also of just talk it out by yourself, find a quiet place where you can be alone and sound it out to see what comes to your mind.  This is a great way to discover new ideas that will allow you to take different routes and try different scenarios.  Talking about it will also allow you to clearly see where you went wrong and in this way to discover how you can do things better the next time.

When you have a setback it is also a good idea to take a break.  Distancing yourself from the problem is sometimes the best solution that you are able to offer at the time.  Take a break and clear your head, try to think of other things and relax your body.  Too much stress can build up and can cause you to feel overwhelmed by whatever problem that you are facing.  The timeout will allow you to relax and regroup your energies so that you can face whatever set back with fresh and strong energy.  Sometimes a break is all that our minds need to quickly give us a solution that can help us to win.

A good way to take a break is to have a hobby.  It is always a good idea to have an entertaining hobby that you can do to give yourself a rest from a difficult situation.  We all have certain things that we love to do, the idea is to do something that you find engaging and relaxing so that your mind can become occupied in something comforting for a while.  It does not have to be a hard thing, even a nice quiet walk can be a great hobby that allows you to have the time to regroup yourself.  You know best what you love best and what you can do as a hobby to relax yourself.  Use this hobby as a soothing ointment when life has been difficult to you.

Finally, always learn from your setbacks.  Always learn from your mistakes, for every mistake has something to teach you that will help you, so that you do not make this mistake again.  Setbacks are really course corrections that allow us to fine tune our direction.  Try not to see setbacks as being a terrible thing but as being the world’s way of putting you back on track.  Learn to handle setbacks properly and you will never fail because every setback is a learning experience.