Failure isn’t the end of your story — it’s just a plot twist.
Whether it’s a business setback, a career curveball or a personal disappointment, you can bounce back stronger. How you respond to the bumps in the road is what defines you.
When life knocks you off your path, it’s time to reset, realign and rise. That’s where the 3 P method comes in. It’s a simple yet powerful approach to help you bounce back with clarity, confidence and resilience. Using this approach will help you springboard into your successive win.
Here’s how to apply each ‘P’ to navigate failure and forge ahead.
Perspective
If you tend to spiral during a sticky situation, finding your way out of failure will be challenging. However, if you can shift your perspective and understand what the mistake is teaching you rather than how it’s negatively affecting you, you’re well on your way to succeeding.
If you think about failure as something to ruminate on so it affects how you relate to that particular obstacle in the future, in all likelihood, you won’t find yourself succeeding. However, if you learn from it and apply the lessons the next time, you’ll be able to overcome the problem much more quickly and easily.
Once you’ve shifted your perspective, you can apply it to all areas of your life. A positive outlook and growth mindset will lead you further rather than focusing solely on what went wrong.
Take a moment each time you fail to check in with yourself, identify which perspective you’ve adopted and shift it if necessary. Taking the time to reflect is a great way to calm down after the stress of failure.
Personal
It’s challenging not to take things personally when you fail, especially if you have been told you failed by someone you trust and admire. Sometimes, the feedback can feel overwhelming. However, it’s essential to try not to take it personally.
Instead, see the feedback as a form of appreciation. Think of it as the person saying, “Hey, you didn’t get it right this time, but here’s how you can next time.” When someone gives you input, they want you to help you improve.
If you tend to take things personally, remember to apply your perspective. Just because you failed this time doesn’t mean you are a failure — you simply haven’t yet mastered that particular skill.
When you fail and think of it negatively, it will likely hang over you like a cloud and affect everything else you do. Don’t take it personally. If you accept failure as part of life and know that it has happened before and will happen again, you will have a better chance of shaking it off.
Persevere
Arguably the most important of the 3 P method is perseverance. It’s extremely important to keep going when you have failed. If you allow failure to get you down, to the point where you’re unable to move forward, it will have been in vain.
When you’re faced with failure, try practising gratitude. Although it may seem difficult in the moment, it allows you to improve your emotional resilience so you can handle things better in the future.
If you allow failure to teach you something and keep going, you’ll become more resilient, learn new things and set yourself up for more success in the future. Whenever you’re faced with defeat, change your perspective, don’t take it personally and persevere to the next phase.
Persevering through failure is the difference between having a fixed and a growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset don’t handle failure well, whereas people with a growth mindset use it as motivation to do better next time.
Brace for comeback
Failure doesn’t define you — what you do next does.
By shifting your perspective and choosing to persevere while understanding that failure is not who you are but an experience you had, you can transform setbacks into stepping stones.
The 3 P method is a mindset that propels you forward. Next time life throws you a curveball, remember you’ve got the tools, strength and determination to bounce back from anything.
