Kent Business Solutions

3 Tips For Leading a More Disappointment-Free Life

11/5/2021

By: Kathy Kent Toney, CEO & Founder of Kent Business Solutions

Image by gabrielle_cc from Pixabay

Wow, what a week this has been with the launch of Michael Cantu’s and my new book, No-Nonsense Digital Transformation!

The results have been pretty incredible: at its peak on Amazon, our book was a #1 New Release in Information Technology, #2 Best Seller in IT, and #4 in AI & Semantics. There’s still room to grow sales because the official book launch is November 17, 2021.

Still, I must admit I wanted to be a #1 Best Seller, and I was disappointed that didn’t happen. I kept questioning whether I could have done something different to achieve the #1 Best Seller ranking.

Then I realized how silly I was acting!

That’s when I decided to leave those thoughts in the dust.

Out of this experience, I thought I’d tell you what steps I followed, to share strategies that might help you more effectively deal with disappointment.

1. Look at the Big Picture

When I zoomed out to look at the big picture, I saw how fortunate I was to have done so well.

This book was our first one. We were learning the ropes as we went along, and the results were beyond what we had initially expected. Now we’ll be more prepared to launch the next book!

In the end, seeing the big picture made it easier to let go of my expectations and the disappointment attached to them.

Lessons Learned: When we zoom out to look at our situations as a whole, this helps curb the tendency to get stuck focusing on just one piece of the pie. And when we can let go of that pie piece, we’ll experience more freedom to be fully present in our circumstances.

2. Be Grateful

This step builds on the first one.

It was so exciting to watch our numbers climb the first day! It helped me realize how blessed I am to be able to bring this book to the world. I’m also blessed to have friends, family, and mentors who have supported me, cheered me on, and helped with the launch. Gratitude became a natural outcome as I reflected on the good things that had happened.

Lessons Learned: Latching onto disappointment and stewing over what could have been often takes away from the good things life offers. Being grateful for what we already have gives us a greater capacity to let go, bringing more enjoyment and beauty to life.

3. Talk to Good Friends

I talked with a couple of friends about this situation, and one suggested that it was too early in the process to arrive at any conclusions. The other said I needed to let go of achieving the #1 position, using the kindest words possible.

By the way, she inspired Step #1!

Lessons Learned: Our friends can often give a different perspective than we would otherwise see. It’s a great go-to strategy, particularly if we’re not in a place to practice Steps #1 and #2.

I hope these steps prove helpful for navigating through disappointments. They certainly worked for me!

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