How To Leave Your Disappointments In 2021.

It’s hard not to feel disappointed from time to time. However, as managers, it’s important that we don’t dwell on these disappointments and instead focus on what we can learn from them. In this post, we’ll explore how to leave your disappointments behind and move on.

Disappointment is that emotion we feel when expectations are not met.

Similar words for disappointment include disillusion, dismay, frustration, letdown, and displeasure.

Disappointments are caused by expected and unexpected events, people, situations including the weather!

Disappointment is part of living life. We all experience disappointments that range from simple, everyday disappointments when our favorite color is back-ordered, or the menu item is not available to those disappointments that are bigger and can impact our future.

Just like stressful events, it is not the size of the disappointment that matters, but whether or not you deal with it.

When you do not manage disappointments and you become discouraged, that is when you slide into the zone of fatal emotions.

The discouragement that goes unchecked destroys expectations for the future which negatively impacts your view of yourself.

When your emotions get stuck on disappointment and discouragement, confidence and self-esteem erode, and forward motion stops.

Discouragement

The dictionary definition of discouragement is “the act of making something less likely to happen.”

When discouragement is allowed to grow into a mood, motivation and momentum break down.

This breakdown can be subtle. Disappointment may shift to a thought, “things will never work out,” and without noticing, that changes to a feeling of discouragement, which slowly becomes a negative, pessimistic outlook. Soon you may be telling yourself, “why bother.”

And this leads to giving up altogether. Either way, disappointment, and discouragement kill drive.

Go from Discouraged to Determined

1. Name it: Whenever you feel disappointment, identify it and take action.

2. Reframe it: Identify three things that are going well for you.

3. Claim it: Engage the optimist in you and recognize that it is not permanent, and things will change. Denial is what makes this emotion fatal, capable of destroying your mojo

4. Talk about it: (Or, write in your journal.) Find a safe person who will simply listen. At this point, talking it out helps release the heavy emotion. You can find solutions later.

5. Help someone else: The tendency with discouragement is to narrow your focus and think only of your problems. Get out of yourself and reach out to someone in need.

6. Move on: Let it go and focus on your big vision.

Self-Awareness

This is why self-awareness is so important. You have to be able to identify your feelings to be able to act and shift out of the fatal emotions. Now, more than ever it is important to let go of the disappointments from 2021. You do not want to start a new year and ride the brakes with old disappointments.

If you have not seen this “LIVE” from Dec 30, 2021, Getting Ready for 2022, I talk about dealing with emotions so you can go into the new year ready and able.

There is a Part 1 of this presentation, 2021 in Review, and both videos are available in our Network, request access here, it is still free to join!