A while ago I posted a video that detailed habits of millionaires that made them successful. One of the habits that really stuck in my mind was their ability to rebound from defeat. It's somethin that I really use to struggle with. In the past, if somethin that I was solely responsible for didn't go according to plan and I suffered an embarrassing defeat, it took me MUCH longer than it should have to rebound - often re-living and analyzing every detail in my head and thinking of things that I could have and SHOULD have done better instead of re-focusing that same energy towards getting up and trying again.
Looking back at the year 2010, which I consider to be one of the most difficult years of my short life, and examining how my thought process is now, I can see that I have completely transformed my way of thinking from the way that I use to think when I was younger. I did so by realizing the following few things:
1. There will be a better opportunity in the future - hindsight is 20/20. After you've lived for a while, you'll start to see where history will try to repeat itself. The key here is to use that 20/20 to learn from your errors; don't let them handicap you.
2. Its really not that serious - Nothing matters unless we make it matter. It was only a brief moment in time and, for most situations, as soon as it happened, it was over. Its our own mind that takes that one moment in time, that may have lasted all of 5 minutes, and makes it seem like it lasted an ETERNITY! The sooner you accept the fact that the past has passed, the faster you can begin dealing with the present and building a better future.
3. Praise God for EVERY single victory you get and downplay your temporary defeats - it is IMPERATIVE that a positive disposition be maintained. If you believe you are a loser, you will probably put forth a losers effort and, as a result, obtain loser results. (Thanks to the cousin for that talking point!)
4. It's alright to fail; its not alright to be a failure - to fall and get up is one thing; to fall and stay down is a completely different thing.
5. Laugh at EVERYTHING - anything you find remotely funny needs to be laughed at. Take a moment each day to be silly. Laughter is a cure all for both depression and stress. You see, while you're laughing, your mind is focused solely on whatever it is that is making you laugh. The complex thought processes that are stressing and depressing you can not co-exist with laughter. Thus, the more you laugh, the less time you spend beating yourself up over past failures and the quicker you get back on the path of conquering the world.
I don't have all the answers for every situation; I'm just telling you what helped me. Hopefully it'll help you. In the end, always remember to never let any level of defeat stop you! It's only over when you die... And I've heard stories of people coming back from that so... I guess its never over. Keep smiling!
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