How to Survive and Thrive When You Have Hit Rock Bottom?

You are a failure. You’ve washed out. Been defeated. Collapsed. Maybe you have had some past successes in your life. But that doesn’t matter right now, does it? Nope. Not in the slightest. What matters right now is that you have or had some goal, and that goal has not been realized.

            Your business broke down. Your relationship with a loved one has deteriorated. Your health has imploded. Every wall that you have managed to put up around yourself, has crumbled into dust.

            It’s like….the entire Universe is against you.

            Let’s face it. You should just quit right now. Just give up. You won’t achieve your dream, your goal. It’s impossible. All the cards are stacked against you. The game is rigged against you. You feel like a miniature pawn being played on the giant chessboard of life, powerless to change and redirect reality as you see fit.

            So, why not just pack your bags right now, tuck your tail between your legs, go home and call it quits?

            Because you know deep down inside…that you don’t want to do that. You don’t want to quit. You know you have to keep on going.

            Your head however…which inside rests that marvel of biology, the human brain, is telling you something quite different. It’s telling you that past experience has proven to you that this isn’t going to work. It’s just not. It’s telling you to give up.

            So, what do you do? 
           

            Perspective, perspective, perspective.

            At the 2005 Kid’s Choice Awards, Hollywood Superstar Will Smith articulated what he considered to be the keys to life; running and reading. He narrated how, when you are able to defeat the “small man” inside your head that beckons you to quit when hitting the pavement, you will learn how to not surrender when life becomes too difficult.

            But it was his second point that is more pertinent. Smith declared that likewise to read is also the key to life. It goes something a little like this.

            There have been billions and billions of humans who have lived before you.

            At some point, there was a human, who had a problem exactly like yours, solved it, and then wrote that solution down in a book.
           
            The key point that I want to make to you, is not that you should read (although the benefits of that should be fairly obvious), but rather to keep perspective.

            Your problem is not exclusive. Your circumstances are not different. Your failure is not unique.
           
            Others have managed to overcome this problem. And you can (will!) to.

            Develop a Plan

            Anthony Robbins, one of the top motivational speakers in the world, dispenses upon his readers the desire for all humans to possess certainty.  When humans feel uncertain about their life or a particular aspect of it, they become restless and deeply troubled.

            Which is why the next step towards attaining a calm exterior and interior in the face of failure is through the development of a plan.

            Take out a piece of paper and a pen. Write out your goal in plain English at the top of the page. Write out, and be as absolutely detailed as you can, the steps that you can take to realize and achieve that goal. Write out actionable steps that you can take every day.

            Now hang this piece of paper up to where you can see it. Carry it with you. Recite it. It’s your key to overcoming failure.

            Remember, that nearly every successful human being on the face of the planet has been met with temporary setback. What set them apart was their insistence that that temporary setback need not be permanent defeat.

             If you liked this article, keep coming back for more free advice and resources. You can also check out my new book for more clarity and practical steps towards remaining calm and keeping perspective during personal failure, click this link.