We have all faced setbacks on our journey through life. Some setbacks are greater than others, while some are little inconveniences. No matter the size of the setback, we can either have a pity party for ourselves or we can accept the setback for what it is and utilize it. I believe we can utilize setbacks to our advantage and help us progress to the next stage.
I am big on seasons of life. We have 4 seasons of the year, at least in Wisconsin. We have winter, spring, summer, fall. Depending on the season we are in, it will allow us to partake in different activities. During the summer, we hate to waste a nice day. Maybe we will do some yard work, go golfing, hang out with friends at the park or an outdoor dining area, go on a hike, etc. So, when we have stuff planned for one of the nice days and it decides to rain, we have a minor setback. We can look at this in two ways. We can be upset and sulk all day because we were not able to follow through with our plans or we can accept it for what it is and utilize the setback and pivot our day. We can utilize this time and catch up on household chores or review our budgets.
So, similar to neglecting our chores during the summers, in our seasons of life, we will be focusing on somethings while neglecting others. When we have a setback on one of our main focuses, we can either have a pity party about it or pivot and focus on something we have been neglecting.
Recently, I have been working out a lot. Lifting weights 5-7 times a week and practicing Jiu-Jitsu 2-3 times a week. 2 weeks ago I did a partial tear on my pec benching. It was out of nowhere and it was the last thing I was expecting. It was tough for me to be upset because it was out of nowhere. Had I seen it coming, I could have been more upset with myself for pushing the envelope, when I should not have. The rest of the night, I was coming to acceptance, I was going to have a few weeks off of the gym. So, instead of sulking, I started thinking about what I could do with that time. I decided I would keep training legs, which is twice a week, so this freed up anywhere from 5-9 sessions a week. With an average time of an hour and a half. So, I just found 7.5 – 13.5 hours in my week. I also am unable to do construction work for a couple weeks. Which frees up around 20hrs in my week.
So, I have on average an extra 30 hours a week. I can spend this time sulking, sitting on the couch, playing on my phone, having a pity party. This is not the route I decided to choose. I decided to go on more walks with Mimi, spend some more time with Sam, and spend a lot more time doing office work. This allowed me to get stuff set up at the office, make some plans to streamline admin work and lead generation. I have been able to spend a lot of time thinking about the business and how to grow it, instead of being bogged down working in the business everyday. We get to choose how we react to situations.
I decided to react in a proactive way and utilize my time to focus on other important tasks in my life. Next time you have a setback, are you going to sulk about it or are you going to take it as a sign to focus on something else for a bit?
Your life Tutor
-Shaun Tutor
Tutors of Life 