3 tips for managing change successfully

Everybody experiences disappointments in life - the key is how they deal with the difficulties. Here are three ideas for managing setbacks successfully.

* You can recognise the stages people often go through when overcoming a setback.

Imagine you have experienced a setback. You may have had an accident, lost a job, contracted an illness, suffered a rejection or whatever. Whilst everybody reacts differently, many go through the ‘reactive change curve’. They experience the stages of shock, denial, paralysis, anger and hurt. Healing takes time. But they gather new strength, set new goals, work hard, achieve success and gather self-confidence. People may take time to recover; but they often emerge stronger, wiser and more able to shape their future.

* You can recognise your pattern for managing setbacks successfully.

Everybody has a history of overcoming difficulties. If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme called Managing setbacks successfully. First, describe a time in your life when you overcame a difficulty. Second, describe what you did right then. For example, you may have taken ‘time-out’ to recover - even if only for 30 seconds. You may then have set a specific goal, gathered support and set-out on the journey. Travelling along the road, you found creative solutions to problems and kept working until you reached the goal. Everybody is different, so you will obviously have your own successful pattern. Looking ahead, describe how you can follow similar principles to overcome possible challenges in the future.

* You can recognise the importance of spending time in a sanctuary, shaping your future and getting a success.

People who experience setbacks often spend time in a ‘sanctuary’. They rest, recover and make sense of what happened. Sometimes they simply need time to lick their wounds. Give yourself permission to relax, re-centre and refocus - then move onto shaping your future. Concentrate on what you can control, rather than worry about what you can’t. Set specific goals and get an early success. Setbacks can act as alarm calls. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, a person may say: “On reflection, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.” Gathering wisdom from the experience, they feel stronger

You can find more tools for managing change successfully at:

http://www.thestrengthsway.com