Have you ever had a moment in your career that you thought was going to sink the ship?
Last week I was talking to a speaker friend named John who confided in me a recent setback. He started the conversation with, “Jane, I had a bomb!”
He had been asked to do a multi-gig webinar for a client. The webinars were fairly lengthy, so he prepared some of the material but thought “that is good enough for now, I’ll add more on the fly”. After all, John had written a book on the topic. Well, something went horribly wrong with his technology, which threw him completely off his game and, in turn, his content fell short of what the client expected. He’d covered about 50% and in his mind, it was an absolute disaster!
Rough right?
We’ve all been there. The only difference might be that those of us who have taken hits in the past know that “this too shall pass”. I’ve had my fair share of setbacks, and I think the best way for me to learn and grow is to share my bounce back techniques with you.
So what do we do when setbacks happen? Here are five key strategies:
1. GET BACK ON THE HORSE. The best way to overcome a flop of a speech is to give another speech. The more time you allow in between gigs will simply feed your insecurities. Even if you have to book a freebie, get back on that horse.
I asked my good friend, and client, Ryan Estis for his input on overcoming a setback. Here is his advice:
Step up and do it again. I can recall a failure so epic I did not want to go back out the next day. Little did I know the contract and commitment to show up again 24 hours later was the single best opportunity for me to recover and respond. The setback happened. However, that was simply a moment in time. It was not me. To set the record straight, I went into my “feedback folder” to serve as a specific reminder of the hundreds and hundreds of times I’ve delivered valuable impact for an audience. I watched video. I put in some extra rehearsal time and used visualization to move me back into my confident zone. The place I have been hundreds of times before. It worked!
I love this proverb:
“Fall down seven times. Stand up eight.”
Adversity is where the growth happens.
I got through my setback the very next day. I have also grown 10x because of it.
2. MAKE IT RIGHT. If you did indeed fall short of client expectations, then give yourself some time to process, so you understand exactly what went wrong. Once you have clear perspective on your accountability, go back and offer to make it right with the client. (If you go in too soon, you may offer more than necessary and create a win-lose). If you need to refund some money, then refund some money. A great way to find out where the client sits is to ask the question “how did it go in your eyes?” Sometimes they will surprise you, and they may not have thought anything went wrong. However, if they agree that it did not meet expectations, you could ask “what would make you feel better?”
3. GET YOUR ZEN ON. If you’ve had a setback that involves money, consider breaking out your favorite money meditation. Our ‘Meditating Your Way to Wealthy’ digital download is a great way to go. If it is a setback of confidence, consider a confidence meditation. You get the idea. Writing or journaling about it may also help.
4. TAKE ACTION. You’ve heard the term, ‘When one door closes, a window will open.’ It is true, but don’t sit and wait for it! Get out there and keep planting seeds. Taking action is a great way to move past a setback.
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5. THINK BIG PICTURE. Look back at all of the setbacks that you’ve had in your career to date. Maybe there were one or two that were pivotal, but I am willing to bet that most of them were just a blip on the trajectory of your life.
John thought that he had lost his chance with his multi-gig podcast client, but he didn’t. They gave him another chance, and he knocked it out of the park. He went on to finish the series, and now the client is now one of his biggest cheerleaders.
What are your tips for overcoming setbacks? Share them with all our wealthy speakers in the comments below!
See you soon Wealthy Speakers!
