How do you handle disappointment? Do you get angry, upset, quiet, reserved? We all deal with disappointment in different ways. The key is to make disappointment work FOR you rather than AGAINST you.
I use disappointment as a time to reassess a situation. I figure it is the Universe's way of redirectng me when I might otherwise have blindly kept going. In hindsight, most disappointments end up being great lessons for me and I come out much stronger.
So how long do you let yourself wallow in the disappointment? For me, I put on soothing music, calm my mind and then look for learnings, insights and ways to redirect my energy. I have found that key appointments that get moved often result in longer time being given to the appointment at another time. Strategies that have to be delayed end up with a key component being added that would have been overlooked if I had launched at the time I wanted.
So take the next disappointment you face and use it as a rethinking, retooling, relaunching time. If you are in sales, use the disappointment as a time to debrief what did or didn't happen in the sale and how you could fix it for next time. If you are in managemnt, use the time to think about how you could have been more strategic upfront to handle the situation even better.
Think of disappointments as forks in the road. It will take your brain a moment to catch up and redirect so you can enjoy the new journey. But remember if you keep your eyes on the rearview mirror all you will see is disappointment and most likely will run into another obtacle quickly!
Anne Warfield, http://www.impressionmanagement.com/
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