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Learn How Failure Can Become Your Greatest Teacher

It didn’t go as planned and you worked so hard.

Disappointment and defeat resonate high when you have failed.

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As a high achiever, entrepreneur, or business owner, experiencing a setback isn’t easy and it can be tempting to throw in the towel, continue to listen to all the negative things your mind is telling you, and say forget it and move on to the next thing.

Honestly, it’s really important to fail at times because it can teach you something.

And trust and believe you will fail and that’s okay.

That doesn’t mean it feels good to experience failure but it is possible to learn how to better cope when you do fail.

Today, I am sharing with you 6 helpful tips for coping with failure.

I am an online anxiety therapist in Wilmington, NC, and provide therapy for stressed-out and anxious high-achieving women experiencing perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and burnout.

I offer virtual anxiety therapy to residents in North Carolina and Maryland.

Ready to get started? Click the button below to schedule your free 15-minute consultation with me.

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Keep reading to learn 6 helpful tips on how to cope with failure.

6 Helpful Ways to Cope with Failure

Failure is an important part of life. It is necessary and unavoidable if you want to live your life in full and meaningful ways.

But failure can be uncomfortable and most people work hard at trying to avoid failure. Check out these helpful tips to making coping with failure a little easier.

Helpful Coping with Failure Tip #1: Develop a growth mindset

Growth mindset? What does that even mean?

Having a growth mindset is when you can accept challenges and failure. You look at these things as opportunities rather than inabilities.

A growth mindset is learning, it’s risk-taking, it’s acceptance of vulnerability, and moving forward.

Helpful Coping with Failure Tip #2: Revisit your goals

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Revisit and evaluate your goal or goals. Address the barriers that showed up and develop another plan of action.

Don’t be afraid to also break down your goals into smaller more manageable steps and goals.

Helpful Coping with Failure Tip #3: Bring in some self-compassion

Experiencing failure can be uncomfortable and bringing in negative self-talk doesn’t make it any easier or more comfortable. I would imagine it probably does the exact opposite.

Criticizing yourself for failing at something often reduces motivation and confidence to work through things.

Next time, try offering yourself a bit of self-compassion by being kind and giving yourself some grace.

Helpful Coping with Failure Tip #4: Feel your feelings

My true avoiders may want to instinctively run and hide from this one but this is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and can also be seen as an act of self-compassion (see above).

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Fear, disappointment, rejection, sadness, and frustration are all common feelings that come along with failing.

Avoiding experiencing feelings continues to increase things like stress, anxiety, and depression but if you can allow yourself to experience and acknowledge them you can then begin to work through them.

Helpful Coping with Failure Tip #5: Notice your thoughts

All day long your mind is thinking all kinds of thoughts and it seems when our mind is being most critical and negative that it seems to be the loudest.

It becomes challenging to not go down the rabbit hole as I tell my clients. One negative thought spirals into the next negative thought and then you get so far down and deep into that hole.

Instead, try to recognize and remember that your thoughts are simply thoughts. They are not true or false. Simply because you think something doesn’t make it true. Take a step back from giving your thoughts a lot of power.

Helpful Coping with Failure Tip #6: Seek out a support system

Your support system is essential during this time because you may be going through some hard stuff.

A helpful support system will be there to give you care, guidance, and real talk.

If you feel like you don’t have a support system, getting started in therapy is a great first step.

Anxiety Therapy in Wilmington, NC at Calm Waters Counseling

Failing at something and being a failure are very different and yet often it’s easy to get caught up in the label you assign yourself as a “failure.” It can create a mess of an internal struggle, and a negative self-concept, and keep you stuck from going forward.

It is important to recognize when this is happening and offer yourself a different approach to how you can cope with failure.

I use a style of therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. ACT focuses on values, mindfulness, and separating away from unhelpful thoughts. All of these things can help cope with failure. Learn more to see if ACT would be helpful for you.

Using ACT for anxiety treatment

Get started in therapy at Calm Waters Counseling by following these 4 simple steps:

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Click the button below to schedule your free 15-minute consultation
Complete the brief questionnaire sent to your email before the consultation
Meet with your ACT therapist
Start meeting your goals and living your life in rich and meaningful ways

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Therapy for High Achievers in Wilmington, NC at Calm Waters Counseling

High achievers would not be where they are in life if they had not experienced some bumps along the way. This is especially true for women entrepreneurs and business owners.

It’s a falsehood that because you are a high-achiever, things come more naturally to you. High achievers experience their challenges.