The Weekly Dose - Setbacks
"Do not allow setbacks to set you back"- Stacey Abrams
Hello,
Well in the week that I feature in the Squiggly Career Setback series I have experienced a significant amount of setbacks, or shall we call them temporary roadblocks, diversions, potholes in the road, red at the traffic lights.
However we wish to label them they are exactly that, just a setback. Not an end. Just a stall, a reroute. Annoying, frustrating, disappointing, tiring yes for sure. I am constantly reminded in these moments to take time out. The first chapter in my new book is all about ‘Pausing’. And yet I continue to be really bad at it!
However - in an effort to do better pausing I headed to Alnwick for StoryFest. A big indulgent weekend away, just one night, but just me. Alone wandering and pondering. Listening to authors and writers sharing their work and ideas, getting completely emersed in the amazing Barter Books bookshop, and treating myself to endless supply of very nice coffee, even a walk on Alnmouth beach.
So I feel better - I have paused. And of course it helps you reenergise and feel like you can go again, get out there, pitching, applying, searching, creating, whatever we need to do.
If you are in this space of feeling tired, I found a good little 5 step process that helped me to wind down and back up without feeling indulgent. And it’s based on the Another Door Opens five steps. It worked for me - give it a try.
We will never avoid setbacks, so working on how we handle them can only help us not just with the immediate task but also in future.
enjoy
Eleanor
Rethinks this week
Rethinking space -Resilience
In moments of setbacks we need to explore our inner resilience, and find our way to bounce back, keep going, reenergise - whatever label you need. In the spirit of celebrating the Squiggly Careers series this week, here is their tool to explore resilience.
Resilience is a key skill for squiggly careers. The ups, downs, twists and turns we all face in our career can feel hard and challenging. They can take us by surprise and squiggly doesn’t always give us the certainty that we may feel we need.
There are 5 areas that are important to reflect on to get a view of your ‘resting resilience’.
1. Your Support Systems Do you have people who are there for you when you need them, who understand your context and help to give you perspective?
2. Your Self-Esteem Do you feel comfortable with who you are and the value you bring?
3. Your Confidence Do you feel confident in your ability to deal with challenges?
4. Your Openness Are you able to share how you’re feeling with people?
5. Your Composure Are you calm and controlled when experiencing challenge and difficulty? Score these are areas from 1–5, where 1 equals low and 5 equal high
Listen - Another Door Podcast
#144 How six words can tell your life story with Larry Smith
"We tell stories in times of transition because in good times, bad times, lateral movements, figurative movements, we need to make sense of the world. Stories help us help us process. This is what makes us human."
Can six words help you process change, and tell your life story? On the podcast Larry Smith shares how a simple Twitter experiment 15 years ago turned into a global storytelling movement - the Six Word Memoir project. Our conversation is not just word count. Larry shares his closing door life moments, from divorce, to relocation, to career change. We discuss his unique 'three-part theory' of life balance, the importance of taking things one door at a time, and how sharing our stories creates meaningful connections. This is about embracing change on your own terms.
The things that helped Larry navigate change -
Book: "Lost and Found" by Catherine Schultz
Music: "This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies
Read
The Another Door blog - I’ve started blogging again. It’s been a while since I’ve done it properly. And yet this is where it all started for me, nearly 8 years ago - blogging about losing my job. With writing all day at work, and then writing all night on my book, I lost the energy for more writing on my blog. But with the book now shipped, it’s created some space. I’ll share my latest ponderings each week here. You can click through if you want to read more.
This is a simple ’How to’ blog this week - going along with the theme of Setbacks. Five simple things to do to reset when you need a break from trying…
When you get tired(How to handle change fatigue)
“When you get tired, learn to rest, don’t quit” Banksy
It feels like you are trying. Really trying. And yet the nos, the nothings, the setbacks keep rolling in. You are giving it everything. Every idea, every potential opportunity. But it’s tiring. And then another setback rocks up and now you are exhausted. Because trying is hard.
Keep Reading > Head over to the blog
Recommended
I was part of the Squiggly Career Setbacks series this week. Listen to their podcast, download their worksheet, join the webinar - https://www.amazingif.com/listen/career-setbacks-how-to-stay-resilient-when-things-go-wrong/
Random - Beast Games
Oh My Word! My daughter and I have been enjoying Beast Games. If you don’t know who Mr Beast is he is Jimmy Donaldson, the most successful YouTuber of all time - I think. He has done a game show with Amazon, and I wondered how this was going to go. But my daughter is a Mr Beast fan, so into the game we went! It’s Intense, Insane, and completely addictive.
It shows us who we really are when the pressure is on, it shows us what really matters, it shows us that life is really just one big massive gamble, where actual skill might not count for much after all! And - unbelievably I called who I thought the winner might be in the second episode! By the end of it I was even thinking Mr Beast was quite hot, but maybe that’s’ just the moment in time of my life right now!
If you’ve been watching it please share what you think.
In the Another Door Opens Community
Coming Soon »>The Experience - How to navigate change
We are currently creating a brand new programme for 2025 based on the book research and content - ‘Five Steps to navigate the messiness of change to find joy and opportunity’ - otherwise know as the The Experience.
This group programme is all about what to do when a door closes in your life, and what you do next - as well as an exploration of change, and how we do change, our Change Mastery.
We’ll be launching the Beta soon - put your name down on the curiosity list to get information as soon as it’s ready.