How to handle setbacks with aplomb:
Make a list. If a goal seems unreachable, first describe it as objectively as possible to yourself. Write down a list of its advantages and disadvantages.
Don’t globalize. See that getting down about getting down is a second-order trap. Helplessness results from taking any defeat too seriously — and generalizing it to our entire existence.
Know your tendencies. Accept the existence of an involuntary all-or- nothing defeat strategy as a legacy from evolution — without giving in to it.
Seize the challenge. See frustration as the way to keep getting stronger, rather than as something that has to bring you down.
Take the long view. Defeats are usually temporary and their effects short-lived. The battle is not the war.
