I believe our natural response to setbacks is stress. When you deal with loss, sickness, conflict, or uncertainty, you get that heavy feeling in your stomach.

Your mood becomes dark. You start feeling less energetic. Your instincts tell you to run.

For some people, that type of stress lasts only a few hours, but for others, it can go on for weeks or months.

What matters is that you don’t get stuck in those negative feelings. Because when you don’t address your setbacks, you start to get emotionally scarred.

There’s another option: You can see every setback in your life as an opportunity to get smarter, stronger, better.

Here’s what J.K. Rowling said about setbacks:

“The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity.”

In this episode, I talk about how I use this strategy in my own life.

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