How to Deal with Disappointment: 12 Helpful Steps

1. First, accept how you feel.Disappointment hurts. And that’s OK.Don’t try to push it away. And don’t try to hide it under a big smile.I’ve found that it works better to not be swept away by such tempting impulses.But to instead accept how I feel.

To let it all in and to hurt for a while.Because if I do then it will go quicker and in the long run be less painful to process what has happened.If I on the other hand reject how I honestly feel then those emotions can pop up later and at unexpected times.

And make me moody, pessimistic or passive aggressive.2. Remember, you are not a disappointment.Just because you may have been disappointed, had a setback or made a mistake and disappointed someone else doesn’t mean that you are a disappointment or failure.And this situation that you’re in right now won’t last forever.

Even if it might feel that way today.The truth is:3. Learn from it.Instead of getting lost in the pain and negative emotions that can come from a disappointment choose to see it more as something you can learn valuable things from (and something that’ll help you to grow).You can do that by asking yourself better questions.Questions like:Maybe you learn that you can likely communicate better the next time when you’re in a similar situation or working together with someone else on a task or project.Or that you need to give yourself a better balance between rest and work to avoid mistakes or to think more clearly.You might even realize that you need to make a bigger change in your life and start spending less time – or no time at all – with someone who has disappointed you too many times (or always makes you feel like a disappointment no matter how hard you try).4.