We’ve all been there, caught in the moment of where a dream seems to die. It’s especially painful when you’ve put a lot of effort into what you were pursuing, made more so by how long you may have held this particular dream.

The temptation when this kind of disaster hits is to quit entirely. After all, why keep trying to put yourself out there? I mean, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ Right? It might happen again. And then how would you feel. Or maybe even something worse will come of it.

Might. Maybe.

The might, maybe, possibly…all terms for borrowing from the future. The problem with living in the future is that none of us are great at predicting just what’s coming next. Of course, if we were, we would never have failed in the first place.  Your better option, the one thing you should be focusing on, is to connect with your resolve, now, when it matters most.

How?

Try these simple tips:

Start with Optimism

Having the right attitude will help you find your enthusiasm so that you can restart the process and tackle it from a different perspective. You’re especially going to need this if you’re feeling discouraged by how things turned out previously.

Find the Takeaway

What can you learn from the situation? By accepting the failure and taking from the experience what you can, you gain a much-needed perspective, and it’s easier to let go of what happened so you can grab on to what comes next. Consider this acronym to FAIL is nothing more than, First Attempt In Learning. When you treat the experience in this manner it’s easier to grow from the experience.

Reassess the Original Goal

Is the dream dead? It might not be. As mentioned above, you might find out you only needed to adjust the vision somewhat to make it more workable. If you are starting something entirely new, is there anything you can take from the original goal, which might serve your new purpose? 

Become More Persistent

Nothing happens without hard work. Here’s where resolve comes into play. You’re going to have to throw yourself into the new or revised project and keep at it. Remind yourself of why this matters. Why you started the project in the first place. Again, if you’re feeling particularly discouraged by your previous attempts, you might have to keep working it until you can start feeling the enthusiasm again.

Jump In

So what are you waiting for? Give yourself a day or two to mourn the previous disaster. Then get started on the next try.

With all this in mind, remember one more thing: your disaster might not be the tragedy you initially thought it was. And even if you did have to readjust your goal, you’re better for the experience. So as the song says, “Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off. And start all over again”

Why?

Because your dreams really do matter.