What Are Setbacks Good For?

Life throws all sorts of craziness at us. Job losses. Relationship challenges. Devastating health issues.

Our lives are full of events that can set us back.

But I want to challenge you today to look at setbacks in a new light. One that will encourage you and help you move forward.

Setbacks

Setbacks are tough. They challenge us and change our lives. Sometimes they’re overwhelming.

Grieve your setbacks. You have to come to terms with your situation when a setback comes your way.

Name it. Say it. Begin to change it.

What Can A Setback Do For You?

This is the million dollar question. This is what will make you a champion or put you in last place.

Setbacks can either destroy you or they can refine you. The choice is yours.

When you begin to change the way you view your situations and setbacks, you begin to see new opportunities. What looked like a complete failure may have been the best thing to ever happen to you.

A major setback for me was the breakup of a relationship when I was in high school. I was head over heels in love with this girl. And one day she said it was over. Not only that, but because of the situation I was asked to leave a church I loved. This completely devastated me.

Now, some people would let this destroy them. To prevent them from loving again. Or attending church.

Instead, I used this setback to refine myself.

I began consuming books. One book after the other. This helped me gain knowledge I otherwise would have passed by.

I began building new relationships. Growing together in a community helped refine who I was. I discovered there was a world outside of a dating relationship.

I began to discover who I was. Sometimes you pour an unhealthy amount of time and energy into relationships that aren’t meant to be. When they dissolve, you begin to rediscover yourself.

Or another setback was when a friend and I decided to end our record label. It was exciting times. We were going to help bands promote their music and let them shine.

In the end, the record label folded without a CD released.

And yet, through this setback, I was refined.

I learned business principles. We met with business leaders from SCORRE. They taught us how to put together a business plan and bring our business idea to the surface.

I learned how to approach people. There were bands that I approached about joining our label. I had to get out of my comfort zone and face the possibility of rejection.

I had to learn how to close down a business. This was tough as running a record label had been a dream of mine. There came a time when we had to call it quits. We had to close down a dream and move on. So many lessons came from this experience.

Refining Yourself

Setbacks are all chances to refine yourself. To better yourself. To become new.

Stop looking at your troubles as the end of the world. They’re not.

They’re new opportunities. New discoveries. And a new you.

Take time to look at the lessons you could learn from your recent setbacks. Begin applying those to your life. Through this process you’ll be refined.

Question: How have you been refined through a setback? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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