How to Take a Loss and Make it a Win

One of the most notable examples in recent history of how to take a loss and make it a win is that of Stacey Abrams. After an unfair and very close gubernatorial loss, Abrams vowed to ensure that every vote in Georgia was counted. She founded Fair Fight in 2018 which addresses the issue of voter suppression. So, how do we do the same? How do we take a loss and make it a win in our lives? Here are some tips that may help you bounce back after a loss and come back stronger than ever.

How to Cope With a Loss

Failing at something you were hoping to achieve can feel like a punch to the gut. Feelings of sadness, overwhelm and disappointment may come to the surface and its important to honor those feelings and really feel them in all of their stages. This is the first and most important step. By acknowledging your feelings and emotions, you can then move on to the next phase.

Adopt healthy coping strategies if your loss makes you feel like a complete failure. Know that just because this thing didn’t work out, doesn’t mean that the next thing won’t. You are not a failure. Your idea just happened to not work out. It’s important to understand too, that the world is an abundant place. If you were passed over for a promotion, there will be other opportunities. There’s room for your success and there’s room for your competitor’s success. This just happened to not be your time. Next time, might be yours. What’s meant for you will find a way to you.

It’s also important to realize that a loss means that you were striving for something challenging. You’ve already won at this point because you’re out there doing what other people are sitting at home just thinking about. You’re ahead of the game already. That in itself is a win! Finally, you now know what and where you need to improve. You’re ready to take a loss and make it a win.

How to Take a Loss and Make it a Win

After you’ve recovered from a setback and you’re ready to get back in the game, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself that will help you take a loss and make it a win for you. As you work through these questions, consider what your end goal is. You may find that that the failure that you experienced wasn’t even anything that truly matters to you anymore. So, determine your end goal. What is it that you want to achieve, ultimately. Once you know and truly understand your goals and reasons why here are some ways to turn your setback into success.

What did you learn from your failed attempt at your goal?

If you truly want to take a loss and make it into a win, you need to face your failure after the emotions are out of the picture and determine what you learned from the experience. Did you discover that maybe you’re targeting the wrong audience? Are your customers to be found somewhere other than where you’re showing up? 

There’s always something to learn in everything we do but especially in our losses, we can figure out what the teachable moment was. What did you learn from this experience? Dig deep and find not just the answers on the surface, but the ones that you may not really want to face. The lessons come from the losses.

What should I do differently this time around?

As you work toward picking back up and trying again, and know where things may have gone wrong, what can you do this next time to give yourself a better chance of success? Turning a loss into a win is about planning your work and working your plan. Having strict guidelines for every step of the way will help you stay on track. Oftentimes we get off track from our plans and that can sometimes be the reason we miss the mark and don’t reach our goals. Determine how you can stay on the path and figure out what you need to do each step of the way to reach your goals.

Believe That You Can Win 

Above all else, turning a loss into a win is about mindset. When you have unwavering faith in yourself and your abilities, you’re bound to succeed. Whatever is meant for you, will find you. Stacey Abrams was not meant to be Governor of Georgia in 2018. However, she was steadfast in her goals. She knew there was something else for her.  

In the meantime, however, Abrams took a loss that could have left her dejected and sad and turned things around. She knew that she lost unfairly. She knew that voter suppression was a factor in her loss. So, she took what she knew and went on to ensure that it wouldn’t happen again. And, what she did, was far better than she could have accomplished as Governor. Abrams turned the state of Georgia blue! It was likely blue all this time, it’s just that the whole voter suppression thing was real. Stacey Abrams is the epitome of ‘take a loss and make it a win’. Her win was big and far better than anything even she could have imagined before 2018.

The same goes for you. Believing in yourself and your cause or your abilities will take you farther than you can probably imagine right now. So, take the loss. It will hurt at first. Rest assured though, that something better is out there waiting for you. In fact, it may just find you.