Guest post by by Cass Mullane, Accountability Coach, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC

I recently had to face disappointment. I’d been associated with a group and their events for many years, but I did not get asked to participate this year. Was I sad? Of course. Did I let it stop me? Of course not!

The first thing I did was to learn why I was not invited to the party. It all made sense. I took a look at what I’d submitted and I realized that the group’s needs were the same old needs and my work and what I had to offer had evolved. This is part of the “lessons learned” aspect of business.

I realized that I’d been comfortably coasting along with these peeps for quite a few years. Then it hit me: I had grown and, in reality, these were no longer my peeps. Clearly the Universe knew, but I had not quite gotten the message. That was a real surprise! And that revelation is what went into my Cool Stuff Jar™ on a really cool piece of art paper.

The uber cool thing was when one door closed, another opened immediately… weird how that happens. I was offered the opportunity to participate at a national level on an exciting program that marries up art and business in local communities in a supremely sustainable way. Pretty scary, because it has high national visibility. But scary in a very good way. How perfect is that!

What happens when you face disappointment? Do you curl up in a ball and call it quits? Or, when you hit the wall, do you open a window?

Here are a few tips to help get through disappointment and get back to doing what you do best:

1. Be careful about assuming anything.
Don’t take for granted that what you’ve always done will always work. Things change, you change and tuning into changes is a key to remaining viable. Building flexibility into your plan is essential.

2. Make sure you have multiple opportunities in the hopper.
It’s a good practice to keep your sales funnel filled. That way when an opportunity does not come through, there are plenty of other opportunities there in the wings awaiting your exploration.

3. Be sad if you need to, then pull out your Big Hairy Audacious Goals and get back on your horse.
Make sure you have your big goals in front of you at all times, whether on a Vision Board or in your Right-Brain Business Plan®. These are not the items on your To Do list, these are the juicy, compelling goals that make you get up, dust yourself off and get back in the saddle.

4. Have a plan in place so you can see where to go next.
Your plan is essential to overcoming obstacles, including disappointment. There is no quicker way to getting back on track than to look at your plan and see what’s next. Knowing the next step will save you hours of your precious time and energy when things get tough.

5. Keep an eye out for the awesome stuff that surrounds you.
Opportunities are everywhere and you have to be open to seeing them. If you can’t see them, you cannot capitalize on them. Make a practice of spotting opportunities and then deciding which make sense to add to your plan and to go after.

Happy hunting!

Cass Mullane’s calm, comfortable approach consistently yields positive results for clients. Her business and personal coaching practice, www.ProsperCreatively.com, specializes in delivering solid left brain business skills to right brainers and creatives in a fun, visual way. She’s a best selling author, textile and mixed media artist and creator of the Cool Stuff Jar™ coaching program. You can also visit Cass on Facebook!