Four Ways to Get Back on the Horse After a Setback

One of my favorite reads of the past year has been the memoir of WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross entitled Slobberknocker – My Life in Wrestling.

Here’s a guy who has absolutely seen it all. He’s done it all. And he’s still going. He’s pulled back on the throttle in recent years, but he’s still going pretty strong.

Jim is a multiple-time sufferer of Bell’s Palsy. If you don’t know, Bell’s Palsy is when muscles in your face get paralyzed. It can affect your appearance and it can affect your speech. And it can also be quite painful.

JR had been off TV for several months prior to WrestleMania 15 in 1999 following a Bell’s Palsy attack. His appearance and speech are still altered almost 20 years later.

But both Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock wanted JR to announce their main event match at WrestleMania. JR’s a friend to them both and they wanted his voice to narrate the highlights of their match.

JR’s confidence was shot after his Bell’s Palsy attack. He didn’t think he’d ever appear on TV again. Because of his altered appearance and trouble speaking, he was scared of how he was going to come across.

I mean, an ability to speak and look right is pretty important to a guy who does what he does for a living.

He’s standing in the dressing room and adjusting the bowtie on his tux. As he’s looking at himself, he scared himself.

“What if they boo me?” he asks himself.

With the University of Oklahoma fight song blaring over the arena speakers, he walks through the curtain. To his surprise, 20 thousand fans in Philadelphia leapt to their feet and gave him a raucous standing ovation.

Here’s a guy who had been on TV for 20 plus years, and even he got scared.

Everybody gets scared. Everybody gets nervous. But what separates the kings from the peasants is what you do with that fear.

“We all have times when our courage wanes. And to make your goals into your reality, you must find that courage to take the action you need.”

We’ve reached February. And I can safely say that new year’s resolutions have gone by the wayside. And I’ve shared what I think of resolutions, I think they’re bovine excrement.

I’ve seen the crowds fall off at the gym for many years.

And I think that a lot of people (even me) have found themselves living in a little fear that they’re never going to reach their goals they’ve declared for their 2018. The goals seem insurmountable.

Let’s face facts, this breaks my heart.

We let out setbacks kill our confidence. We make our setbacks mean something about us. That we’re unworthy of the big declarations we’ve made for our lives.

But I’m here to tell you that you’re perfectly okay exactly where and how you are.

I’m reminded of something that happened when I was a young prince. And I promise you, the story I’m about to tell you isn’t a metaphor for anything. This is actually what happened.

My granddaddy had this grumpy old horse named Boots. Named so because he had white markings on all four of his feet.

I was maybe four years old. And before my courage got cut out from under me, I was your typical Southern boy. I loved fishing, farming, and riding.

And I wanted to ride Boots more than anything.

I’ll never forget the image of my mom wringing her hands. Worried sick.

And her worries were founded, as I lost my balance and promptly fell right off Boots.

I wasn’t injured. I wasn’t even crying. And I’ve got a subtle little scar right under my lower lip as a reminder.

But I wanted back on. I wanted to get back on the horse.

My mom put her foot all the way down. I believe the phrase was “not no, but hell no.”

And it was that moment that I lost my courage. And for the past 35+ years I’ve been working to rebuild it.

You and I both know that this is something that affects everybody. We all have times when our courage wanes. And to make your goals into your reality, you must find that courage to take the action you need.

Four Ways to Get Back on the Horse After a Setback

I’ve got a few practices I’d like to propose to you. When you find yourself getting knocked off the horse, here’s how to reignite your courage.

1.Acknowledge the fear

So many of us feel like we shouldn’t be scared. We shouldn’t feel the fear. We shouldn’t feel things that come off as disempowered or weak. Men are really good at going there. But when I say to acknowledge the fear, don’t wallow in the fear. Pat it on the head, tell the fear that it’s a good boy, and let it go

2.Remember that you’re going to fail

Why does this one makes me want to tap myself in the nose? Consider the legendary 1941 season from Ted Williams. He hit .406 that year but lost out on the American League MVP to a guy who had a 56-game hitting streak – Joe Dimaggio. Williams’ season is considered to be the finest offensive baseball season of all time. But as good as his 1941 season was, he still failed 59.4% of the time. He FAILED almost 60% of the time to get a hit. Failing in performance doesn’t mean that you are a failure.

3.Reconnect with your humanity

You’re a human being. You’re flesh and blood and thoughts and feelings. You’re a human being. You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to screw up. And you’re going to get things wrong. But remember to keep going. You’re not going to get everything right. What makes you special and great isn’t the results. It’s your gift! And share that gift with the world!

4.You are not perfect

I cannot stress this one enough. You are not perfect. I can guarantee that in every great work of art, the artist feels like there’s something wrong with it. If you were to talk to Da Vinci, he’d tell you that he could probably re-sculpt David better. And me, I read a passage from Written in the Stone on video a few months ago. And I was horrified to see that I misspelled the same word three different times on the same page. Trying to get something perfect is the quickest way to take the heart and soul out of what you’re doing.

It’s okay that your courage wanes from time to time. It’s fine that you don’t know how to do things.

But getting back on the horse is the only way to reconnect with your greatness.

Want a new relationship with your courage? I’d love to support you in making your big goals your big reality.