Success and Disappointment and Your Time Choices

expectations
Success and disappointment are rooted in your expectations.

Success and disappointment are, in many ways, really just two sides of the same coin.

And managing them, whether big or small, is a time skill that is vital for your toolbox.

The vagaries of life are inevitable. So staying steady in the midst of those fluctuations keeps you at the top of your game. Maybe that’s especially true these days when everything is so vividly documented in social media and our 24/7 news cycles.

Success and disappointment in sports.

The sports world offers some of the clearest illustrations of success and disappointment.

Consider the recent accomplishment of the US Women’s National Team as they won the Women’s World Cup. This represents a pinnacle of success that soccer players the world around aspire to. And though I am not a sports buff by any means, I can appreciate the magnitude of this accomplishment.

On the flip side is a situation I remember reading about some years ago. It involved a pitcher named Armando Galarraga. He lost his bid for a perfect game when an umpire made an incorrect call with two outs in the ninth inning.

I was so struck by what this player did after the umpire’s mistake:

Galarraga looked stunned and Comerica Park went silent in disbelief. A couple of Tigers put their hands to their heads.

Galarraga quietly went back to work as the crowd started to boo. Cabrera continued to argue the call as Galarraga quickly retired Trevor Crowe for the one-hit shutout.

Dignity in success and disappointment.

It’s generally easy to be gracious when you experience success. But when you are disappointed, what are your choices?

I’m struck by the quiet dignity reflected in that pitcher’s response in the example above. It must have been a huge disappointment to this young man, but he managed his reaction and returned to complete the work at hand.

In our daily lives, we experience success and disappointment in ways that are both small and large.

It happens all the time. The fulfillments are fun. But the blows to our hopes and expectations are always challenging.

How do you cope?

What I see, especially with disappointment, but with success, too, is the importance of taking a deep breath and not reacting in the moment.

Maintaining your dignity and authenticity and not riding a roller-coaster of emotion is generally a good idea. Later, you will have space to experience and, if you wish, share a whole range of feelings. But in the moment, whether you’re experiencing success or disappointment, choosing a measured response helps you maintain your balance and groundedness.

In doing that you give an expansive gift to yourself and to everyone who’s shared the experience.

And here’s more for you…

To become your most powerful and flexible self, sign up for our complimentary gift, the Finding Time Success Kit.

The Success Kit includes “The Finding Time Boundary Template: 9 Simple, Sequential Steps to Find More Time and Recharge Your Energy!” This time template will help you move beyond overwhelm, disappointment, and frustration.

Using a workbook format, with room to record your answers, you will discover that 24 hours really are enough. Click this link to get started.

Let’s explore time together …

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