Entrepreneurs - Put obstacles/setbacks/failures in the right perspective. THEN you can move past them!

[David Gise]

If I have learned one thing from my 17 years as a personal trainer, it is the importance of getting my clients to put their obstacles, setbacks and/or short term failures in the right perspective. Once a client has been able to master this behavior, the chances that they will stick to an exercise program for the long haul will improve dramatically.

Here is the typical scenario of a client that is NOT able to master this behavior: Client X will have a bad weekend of eating or drinking. They will then cancel their training appointment at the beginning of the week as they feel like they already blew it and "What was the point!" The occassional Monday morning cancellations will eventually become more frequent and ultimately, Client X would drop out altogether(fail).

As I became more experienced as a trainer, I realized that if I was going to really help my clients to achieve their long term goals, I needed to get them to understand that they could easily move past their temporary setbacks by putting them into the right perspective.

The Right Perspective A bad weekend of eating of drinking is only a temporary setback. In most cases, a few good workouts and a consistent week of good eating will get a persons health and fitness program right back on track.

All too often, the voices in our head speak much louder than common sense. As a result we tend to give short term failures much more relevance than they deserve, in many cases derailing our chances of long term success.

As entrepreneurs, I think it is safe to say that the amount of possible obstacles, setbacks and temporary failures can be multiplied by a factor of 10. Whether it is a failed sales call, a denial of funding, a new competitor entering the market, a slow month of sales, etc., there are many opportunities whereby our overall perspectives can become blurred.

By learning to compartmentalize setbacks, obstacles and failures and view them for what they really are, temporary, we stand a much better chance of thinking about the logical "next steps" that will allow us to move past them...perhaps even grow from them.

As Open Office Space continues to evolve, I find the need to remind myself of the advice I have given many others as a personal trainer - put things in the right perspective. And, when I take this self given advice, I am almost always in a better position to handle a given obstacle, setback or failure.

Sometimes, though, it is a little hard to hear myself over those darn loud voices in my head.

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[BeauH]

Thanks for the advice David it helps a lot. Well being a businessman is not an easy job. Businesses have their ups in down especially when it comes to economy meltdown. Many of us will surely get cash advance to help in financing our unforeseen expenses since many “obstacle” might come our way. The good thing about this failures and obstacles is they teach us how to handle it with determination and self-trust that we can survive and be over it. Setting standpoint is a good help, but then again let’s be more optimistic in every way we do and always PUT GOD above all.