Or is it “Defeat”!

Is it simply an issue of semantics, or is suffering a Failure more significant than a Defeat. More importantly, have you suffered a Setback, a Defeat or a Failure? Defining it properly and seeing it in its proper perspective is critical to subsequent outcomes.

The most important aspect is to determine whether:

1. You can learn anything from the situation (whether Setback, Failure or Defeat) so as not to repeat it,
2. You can recover and move on,
3. You will allow the situation to make YOU a Failure or can you successfully separate YOURSELF from the SITUATION and move on toward your goals?

Setback, Defeat or Failure?

Define it Properly!

From Webster’s New World Dictionary:

Setback - “2. to reverse or hinder the progress of …”

Defeat- “1. to win victory over; overcome; beat, 2. to bring to nothing; frustrate, 3. to make null and void, 4. to undo; destroy …”

Failure - “1. the act, state or fact of failing; specifically, a) a falling short, b) a losing of power or strength, c) a breakdown in operation or function, d) neglect or omission, e) a not succeeding in doing or becoming, f) a becoming bankrupt; 2. a person or thing that fails …”

“Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm”
- Winston Churchill

Perspectives to Consider

When dealing with Setbacks

1. STOP using “Failure” wth reference to setbacks and, IN PARTICULAR, with reference to YOURSELF!. Circumstances may conspire to produce a failure in a given venture, however, that does not make YOU a Failure!

2. Don’t take a Setback personally! A venture may have suffered a SETBACKor even failed, however, you stilll have potential to pursue other ventures. If a given Setback was a result of something you did / didn’t do - learn from it so it doesn’t happen again. If a failure was the result of a weakness you have, ADDRESS the weakness! If you require education, get it. If you lack confidence, use the wealth of Personal Development tools available to you to increase your Self-Confidence.

3. Be Prepared! Proper evaluation and thorough assessment of risk wil help you prepare to a possible setback of any given venture. Think of the application process for a loan at a bannk, for instance. Ideally, a Loans Officer wants as much detail with regard to your financial resources as possble so as to assess the risk associated with the loan. Similarly, assess the risk of the ventures you propose to enter and prepare a plan for both its possible success AND possible failure.

4. Fail Intelligently!A mouse in a maze, searching for the cheese at the centre, needs to make a correct (Success) or wrong (Failure) choice at each opening. After a mnumber of successive tries, the mouse eventually learns the faster route to the centre. In similar manner, life oftens presents us with choices and it is inevitable that we will make some wrong choices, perceived as Setbacks, Failures ot otherwise. We need to learn from wrong choices and move on to towards our goals.

5. Never Give Up! “Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense”

- Winston Churchill
(The man who saw England through the Battle of Britain in World War II - What more need I say?)

How you Perceive Your Setback

Will it become a Failure or a Defeat?

Perception is so critical in so many aspects of life and life’s setbacks are no exception. One person sees “The glass half full”, while the another sees “The glass half empty”.

How you perceive any setback you face will determine the extent of its effects. The last year has seen us face, globally, the worst recession since the Great Depression of 1929 and many have been affected to varying degrees. The last year has seen virtually all of us face setbacks. Whether they become Failures or Defeats is up to us.

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