How to Deal With Defeat

When people asked Mohammad Ali how he became a great boxer, he replied that he thought about his boxing mistakes for three seconds, redid his moves and put thoughts about his mistakes behind him. People can't avoid defeat in their academic, sports or professional lives, but people can chose how to deal with defeat. When great people are asked to reveal how they became successful, they often say that defeat has had a positive effect on their lives by showing them what they need to learn and by stimulating personal growth.

Instructions

• 1

  Anticipate that you will experience some defeats in spite of your identity, position or high skill level. When defeat comes, it will not be a surprise. Your acceptance of the possibility of defeat prepares you to accept it and helps you recover quickly from any depression or upset.

• 2

  Perceive defeat as a temporary state of being. Emotions such as upset and depression have less impact on you and you will be able to regroup quickly.

• 3

  Forget about the defeat for a while and do some fun activities. A short break will help you gain some perspective on the nature of the defeat and clear your mind.

• 4

  Use defeat as an opportunity to learn and grow in areas you need to change. Defeat is meaningful if you analyze how and why it happened and develop strategies to prevent failure in the future.

• 5

  Understand the reasons that the defeat occurred and create some possible solutions. For example, if you fail a training course for certification in a certain field, your experience and skills may not match the requirements of the course. Consider that you may be failing because the goals you are pursuing are not right for you.

• 6

  Study historical events and the lives of famous people to learn how they handled defeat. Use these examples to learn how to handle similar situations. Find inspiration in quotes from famous people regarding failure.

• 7

  Continue trying to achieve your goals. Inventor Thomas Alva Edison said: "Don't give up. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

• 8

  Use the wisdom and knowledge that you have acquired from your defeat to move on to a new situation or revised project that will motivate you to achieve your goals. Search for the elements that potentially guarantee success.