It happens to all of us from time to time. We shoot for a goal and we miss it. It seems devastating. Our target date for completion of some big goal comes and goes without our being in possession what we originally sought after. Rather than remain disappointed follow these three steps to get back on track.

1. Reexamine your results. Look at the actions that you took and look at the results. Go over everything from planning to execution. Even examine your motives. Were they sound? Be brutally honest with yourself.

Once you have a clear picture of what happened then you are better able to shoot for your goal again. Only this time you have the added benefit of hindsight. You will be able to move more confidently and quickly as a result of learning from your mistakes.

2. Put everything in perspective. In this step you will see that the failure was not as devastating as you had perceived it to be. Just take a step back and let the results show you where you went wrong.

You will discover what went wrong and the reasons for those failures. You will also discover areas where you were right on the mark. It is important to recognize your correct moves. Now you can build upon your successes and change the mistakes.

3. Get started again. When you start again you will be in a better position to succeed. You will have revised the part of your goal process that did not work. In addition, you simply take what did work and do it again. In this way you learn from every success and misstep.

These steps provide you with a foundation for growth. With every failed goal attempt you will have a groundwork laid for your next goal attempt.

As you go through these three steps after each goal attempt you will gain confidence and skill. You will see growth each time whether you achieve your goal or not. With each goal attempted you'll get better results.