7 Ways to move Forward in your life


We all get knocked down in life no matter how much we try to avoid it. If we are trying to be at our best it is inevitable that we will face setbacks. One of the best resources I found on failure is the book “Failing Forward” by John C. Maxwell. He gives a formula for proceeding further once you get back up by expanding the word forward. Here it is with my take on each.
Finalize your goal – You will not be surprised with this one. How can you hit a target you cannot see? Once you fall down if you immediately look to the future with optimism you won’t stay down for too long. One of the best ways to shape your future is through challenging goals in all areas of your life. Of course don’t spread your hands in all directions have a singular focus.  
Order your plans – By failing to plan you are planning to fail. You should be flexible of course but at the same you need to have a roadmap to achieve your goals. Take the time to create a blue print for your life and you will feel great.
Risk Failing by taking Action – Knowledge is never enough. Only knowledge that is applied matters. Action is everything because you can have wonderful thoughts but if you don’t move forward by taking action very little can be achieved. Procrastination is the real thief of time. So take massive action and of course it could result in failure. However it is far better to try and fail than the other way around. Read this quote by Theodore Roosevelt “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
Welcome mistakes – View mistakes as corrective feedback. There is no one who has achieved any noteworthy success without making multiple mistakes. Make sure you learn from the mistake which is the key to not repeating it. You can be self-critical for 5 min but beyond that it is not worth it. Journal about your mistakes and see how you can ensure it never happens again.
Advance based on your character – Character is what is left after everything else is gone. If you have strong character you will bounce in spite of rejections and setbacks. Here is a great quote from Pat Riley “In every contest, there comes a moment that separates winning from losing. The true warrior understands and seizes that moment.”
Reevaluate your progress continually – Engage in lifelong learning. This is the key to keep your mind active throughout your life. Read, listen and learn all you can. As Gandhi said “Live as if you are going to die tomorrow but learn as you are going to live forever.”  Learn from your life through serious self-reflection and great introspection. You need to journal about every major event in your life and also track your progress against the goals you set for yourself.
Develop new strategies to succeed – Obviously if you experience a setback it is usually something that you did wrong or avoid. So you need to strategies, find out what went wrong, go to the root of the issue and eliminate it. No plan survives first contact with the enemy. You need to keep altering and coming up with new plans to replace those that did not work. 
There you have it the 7 ways to move forward with your life after a setback.
The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my organization.

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