10 Things to Do When You Take a Step Back

Written by David Turnbull - 15 Comments
Categories: self improvement

Image Courtesy of Ginther @ Flickr

In the process of any form of achievement there will be times where you take a step back – where things don’t go as planned and you fall into a bit of a slump. These moments can hurt, sometimes even enough to make you quite altogether. But don’t quit.

Persistence is an aspect of success that many people struggle with because it is difficult to keep working, fly past the tipping point point. I hope these strategies make the road towards your goals simpler, with less interference from steps backwards.

Identify the cause. Any solution requires a clear problem. What is it specifically that you’ve deemed to be a step away from your goals? When you break things down like this instead of responding immediately with “Everything’s gone wrong, I’m doomed!” you’re able to think logically without the interference of emotion. Smart decisions can be made in response.

Remember where you’re going. Have a clear direction, an end goal. This is a key tool for motivating yourself through times where everything feels to be going against you. Every day visualise the exact outcome you want from your goals.

Realize it’s just a pot hole, not a canyon. It’s a scrape not a flesh wound. Any step back is reversible and rarely requires any major shift in actions or thoughts. Be mindful of what went wrong, acknowledge it, and move on.

Inspire yourself. What is your inspiration? Music, good books and the videos from Gary Vaynerchuk rarely fail to get me back in my groove. Discover your muses and then exploit the hell out of them in your down times.
Stop doing anything. Be still and relax. Taking a step back can be spurred from burning out and you can’t recover from that by running your engines even hotter. Don’t feel guilty for purposeful unproductiveness. Enjoy it.

Blast some music. Nothing gets me pumped up more than playing some Ben Harper at a most likely unhealthily loud volume. Get some good speakers (fan of the Logitech Z-10 system myself) and get lost in the melodies.
Get something done. Make some form of progress. Whatever it is doesn’t particularly matter, just kick your mind into gear by realizing that the step back was only temporary.

Hang out with friends. This is essentially “Stop doing anything” but with the added distraction of your buddies to help take your mind off your step back. If you want to take a more active approach consider joining a mastermind group. Then you can hang out with like-minded individuals and take steps forward at the same time.

Solidify your plan. What is your current plan of action? Run through it, slowly, and begin revising or removing any weak links. Make your plan a flawless sequence of events to take action on – there’s no room for mediocrity.

Smile. Force one if you have to. Just smile. It’s proven that the physical act of smiling has the same effect as being genuinely happy. Sit, smile and breath.

Step forward. Don’t live in the past. Take action that takes your forward towards your goals. Stepping back is an inevitable part of life – make sure it doesn’t become he only part of life.

David Turnbull is a Guest Blogger For PickTheBrain and is the founder of DavidTurnbull.com.

Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter!

Related Articles:

Tips For Breaking Bad Habits and Cultivating Good Ones

7 Ways To Grow The Action Habit

Tags: , , , , ,
  • Steve

    I couldn`t agree more David. Stepping back means that you took the wrong step from the first place toward your goal. The way to achieve these goals does not have to be a straight line. You`ll need to take steps forward, backward and sides too to avoid rocks and troubles and that`s what makes the challenge. The thing is you have to know when is the right time to take this action.

    Thanks for a great article.

    Steve

  • David Turnbull

    Thanks for the comment and thoughts Steve. Completely forgot about even writing this article so it’s great to see it up on PTB. :-)

  • http://lifetofullest.com Jay

    Thanks for the great list of advice David. I completely agree.. we really need to learn and to take few steps backward to get more steps forward. Sometimes we are not aware that those backward steps is the key for us to learn valuable lessons that will lead us to the right direction.

  • David Turnbull

    That’s very true. Many of the times I’ve hit a road block it causes me to react with massive action and then that puts me in an even better position that I was before. It helps break us out of our level of comfort and complacency.

  • http://www.soulitude.ca Rob

    It’s funny that I came across your blog at the right time. I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately as far as taking action on a couple of projects of mine. After reading your article, I feel more motivated and your tips will definitely help me in times when I’m stuck in procrastination. Thanks David!

  • http://www.theemotionmachine.com Steven – The Emotion Machine

    I especially love the tip about blasting music. When I feel particularly down sometimes the only thing that helps is to put on some good dance music and spend an hour just dancing, getting back in the moment, and loving life again.

  • David Turnbull

    Thanks Rob. Glad to help you out of your slump. :-)

  • http://join-acmepeoplesearch.info acme people search

    According to me, the uniquest thing that explained above is smile. But, please don’t always keep smiling when you’re alone… just a joke.

    Thanks for those tips.

  • http://www.lifestarringyou.com Brian Winston

    Great ideas! I agree wholeheartedly especially with the idea of persistence. Have you ever seen how ants operate? They are the most persistent creatures on the planet. When they are focused to get to their destination nothing will stop them!

    I appreciate the post. Keep up the excellent work.

    Brian

  • http://taskwriter.com Helen

    Oh, this is pure gold for people who made a mistake at some point, and they feel a little bit lost. :) You have to have faith,focus, to be optimist, to know very well what you are doing.. and the rest is .. easy to obtain.

  • http://www.neverstopstudying.com Joe

    Some great points here! very powerful and uplifting.

    You may be able to find some more on this topic at this website:

    http://www.neverstopstudying.com

    Where you can get some really helpful FREE stuff!

  • http://www.taskwriter.com/blog/daily-links-thursday-26-november-2009/ Daily links Thursday, 26 November, 2009 « TaskWriter

    [...] definitely be treated. Here’s a list of steps to do forward, when you did one… back. 10 Things to Do When You Take a Step Back In the process of any form of achievement there will be times where you take a step back – where [...]

  • http://www.findinspirationtoday.com Mike aka Find Inspiration

    Great thoughts David. It goes along with learning lessons via experience. And taking that step back is an important tool to fight through challenges. Thanks!

  • http://lawofattraction30days.com 30 Days to Change You Life

    Life can be like a walk in the country side – the detours we take along the way can be the most interesting and the most fruitful part of the journey. Often, we don’t know what is best for us, so it’s important to let go and allow an intelligence far greater than our own to guide us. Submit to the flow of the universe.

  • Roman

    Great article , great thoughts.
    I personally agree with most of it, but some points find that would definitely work for some, but not for the others .
    i.e. i think that some people will prefer to get some alone time , when they are reevaluating (i.e. stepping back) instead of hanging out and getting on public.

    Overall , a very helpful post
    Thank you