Experiencing the aftermath of a difficult business decision can be incredibly challenging. When someone close to you is struggling with regret, disappointment, or financial pressure, your empathy and support can make a meaningful difference in their ability to recover and move forward.
Empathy and Support During Business Challenges
Poor business outcomes can trigger deep feelings of regret, self-blame, and anxiety about the future. Let your loved one know that you’re there for them – not to fix things, but to listen. Being a calm, non-judgemental sounding board can ease some of the emotional weight and create space for problem-solving. Two heads really are better than one when regret feels overwhelming.
Listening without judgement is key. Allow them to express their thoughts and feelings openly whether that’s fear, frustration, or sadness. These responses are entirely normal. In the middle of such emotional intensity, decision-making can feel clouded, and people often fixate on what went wrong rather than what’s possible now.
Why Regret Happens in Business and How to Cope
Regret typically stems from disappointment with how a situation turned out especially if the individual had high hopes or felt personally responsible. The mind can quickly become stuck in “what ifs” and “I should have” spirals, which are emotionally draining and rarely productive.
Try to help reframe the narrative – mistakes and setbacks are an inevitable part of life, particularly in business. Remind your loved one that their worth is not tied to one decision or outcome. Regret can be a sign of reflection, not failure. Encourage acceptance of what’s happened, while gently steering focus towards the future. What now? What next?
Encouraging Self-Care and Stress Relief After Business Failure
This kind of stress takes a toll, both physically and emotionally. Encourage your loved one to keep their routines going: gentle exercise, balanced meals, rest, and connection with others. These small acts of self-care can significantly reduce anxiety and restore some equilibrium.
When they’ve had a chance to talk it through, help them shift towards solutions. You could brainstorm practical steps to mitigate the impact of the decision, explore alternative income streams, or think about future career opportunities. Some of the best ideas are born from moments of crisis.
Seeking Expert Guidance and Setting Concrete Goals
If the decision has legal, financial, or operational consequences, suggest speaking with a financial advisor, mentor, or legal professional. Getting an informed second opinion can relieve pressure and create clearer next steps.
Having a simple, written plan for the short and long term can also help restore a sense of direction. Setting achievable goals, even small ones, provides a sense of agency and momentum.
Learning from Business Mistakes for Personal Growth
Once the initial distress has passed, you might gently invite some reflection. What have they learned? What would they do differently next time? This process should be gentle and future-facing and not another opportunity for them to punish themselves.
Mistakes do not define someone’s intelligence, ability or future success. Setbacks are not the opposite of progress – they actually a part of it.
Every person’s recovery will look different. What works for one might not work for another, and that’s okay. Holding a long-term view and encouraging forward motion at their pace is the most helpful thing you can do.
Forward-facing is key.
www.carolinecrotty.ie
We enter romantic relationships giving our trust and our hearts to another with the hope that neither will be broken. The reality is that most of us know what relationship breakups are like and how it feels to have our hearts broken or at least scarred or dented!
People of every age attend counselling and psychotherapy following the end of a relationship. Any relationship ending, regardless of its length, can leave us reeling. If you are experiencing loss following a relationship breakup, here are some pointers that might help:
Firstly, allow yourself to feel however you feel. When grieving the loss of a relationship and the loss of future plans, it helps to identify emotions rather than block them. There’s nothing wrong with crying (although it’s awkward at work or in the supermarket)! Be reassured that the intensity of the emotion lessens over time. Initially, we might go through a vast array of reactions including shock or disbelief, sadness, anger, fear, guilt, jealousy, regret, swearing off any future relationships etc and although we think we are stuck in our sadness for ever, our feelings change.
Sometimes the overwhelming sense of loss follows a period of numbness or vice versa and both reactions are equally human! There is no single, linear response to loss or grief. Our reactions are as individual as we are so there’s no right or wrong way to experience grief or loss so we go through it and we recover bringing our new learning to the next relationship.
Because we may not have been the person to end the relationship, we may feel rejected and get stuck on questions such as ‘What’s wrong with me that he doesn’t want to be with me?’ and if our ex is in a new relationship ‘What does his new partner have that I don’t have?’ This is typical but unhelpful. Try to manage thinking and thoughts so that mentally you don’t enter a wormhole of rejection. We rarely think, ‘what’s wrong with him that he doesn’t want to be with me’ which might be more useful!
Be supported by others. Talking about the loss is helpful regardless of how private you are. Share thoughts and feelings in confidence with a trustworthy friend or with a therapist. G.P.s have contact details of local counsellors or psychotherapists and www.mymind.org provides a sliding scale of fees throughout Ireland.
Although we might not feel like meeting people, stay in friendly contact. We might find ourselves in a position where our friendship group changed as a result of the relationship loss, so try to say ‘yes’ to social invites because spending time in the company of others is beneficial. It takes our minds off ourselves even for a little while. Be with people who are easy to be with and who value your company. If it seems like committing to social engagements is simply too much of a struggle or output of energy, then perhaps take time out to heal and decline invitations, however, put a time-limit on the social break so it doesn’t extend indefinitely and become social isolation.
Invest in a journal and start writing! Use the journal as a positivity notebook – despite the presence of dark emotional clouds, writing something positive every day or writing a positive word can be helpful. Reminiscing on past achievements or issues that you’ve previously overcome can feel pleasant in the present. If journaling about your feelings is helpful, then go for it! Write what you have learned from your relationship so you can improve future relationships.
Examine what might have been done differently, but not in a self-loathing way, more from a learning perspective – what’s the lesson to be learned from this hurt and heartache?
Communication is difficult and we may feel like we were never heard or listened to by our former partner. Rather than carry negativity, blame and resentment towards the other person, remind yourself that you tried your best and the intention was never that anyone would be hurt.
Concentrate on how you can best look after yourself now and into the future. Make a plan of action (in your new journal) or start a new routine for meeting the basic needs of diet, sleep, exercise, relaxation, social interaction etc. Write a daily or weekly schedule, regardless of how simple, because it can help to provide a sense of purpose and achievement when completed. Include self-care as part of the routine whether it is to walk in a forest or play music you love (or both at the same time!), making time to care for yourself is important for healing and recovery.
Exercise is critical to your recovery – it helps utilise stress hormones that can cause physical symptoms e.g. aches and pains, an upset tummy or digestive issues.
Avoid unhelpful and unhealthy choices following a relationship breakup such as using illicit drugs or relying on alcohol to cope or overeating, self-harm, over-working or excessive gambling. Constantly distracting yourself from the reality of your life and the loss may work for a little while but not indefinitely. Instead, pay attention to what you need to soothe yourself and consciously encourage yourself.
Try not to keep false hope that they’ll come back and all will be well once ‘they see sense’. Life is too short to wait for someone to return following a relationship breakup. Respect their decision and choice to end the relationship. Do you want to be with someone who does not want to be in a relationship with you, or who doubts the future success of your relationship? If the answer to this question is ‘no’, then allow them to leave. Sometimes when hurt, it can be helpful to set a time-limit or deadline after-which it is important to acknowledge that the relationship is over, when acceptance becomes the priority (not revenge or ill-will, but acceptance).
Spending time on our own with our thoughts is growthful. Being independent and being able to identify and meet our own wants and needs will benefit all future relationships.
Although it might feel very daunting initially, there is life, love and happiness after relationship breakups.
www.carolinecrotty.ie
Caroline Crotty Counselling & Psychotherapy Limited - 636306 - Suite 7, Block A, South Terrace Medical Centre, Infirmary Road, Cork T12 WF40
Copyright 2021 Caroline Crotty. All rights reserved. Website by 
