Dealing with the aftermath of a poor business decision can be incredibly challenging and emotional. When someone close to you is experiencing business decision regret and coping with disappointment in business, offering empathy and understanding is crucial. Your support can make a big difference in their ability to move forward after a setback.
Empathy and Support During Business Challenges
An unfortunate choice in business can lead to deep feelings of regret, self-blame, disappointment, and profound anxiety about the future. Let your loved one know you’re there for them. Being a non-judgmental sounding board provides them with someone to talk to about their challenges, which can ease the emotional impact of a business setback. After all, two heads are better than one when it comes to coping with regret and self-blame.
Listening without judgment is vital. Allow them to express their thoughts and feelings about the business failure openly. Assure them that their reactions—whether it’s worry, fear, or upset—are completely normal. During such times, their decision-making abilities might feel clouded, and they may find themselves fixating on what went wrong rather than exploring solutions.
Why Regret Happens in Business and How to Cope
Regret often comes from disliking the outcome of a business decision that didn’t go as planned. It’s common to ruminate on “what ifs” and “should haves” but this can be counterproductive. Remind them that setbacks are temporary and that they cannot change the past. Moving forward after a bad business decision involves accepting current circumstances while working on a recovery plan.
Making mistakes is part of life, especially in business. Reassure them that business decision regret doesn’t define them as a person. Encourage them to see regret as a sign of thoughtfulness rather than a failure, and remind them that learning from business mistakes is a stepping stone toward future success.
Encouraging Self-Care and Stress Relief After Business Failure
During this stressful period, encourage self-care to help them cope with financial stress and business-related anxiety. Regular exercise, proper nutrition, and relaxation are excellent ways to reduce anxiety and improve sleep. They should also consider reconnecting with loved ones to maintain a support system.
Once they’ve shared their feelings, gently steer them towards finding solutions rather than fixating on the past. Together, you might brainstorm ways to mitigate the impact of the decision or explore new business opportunities. Sometimes, setbacks pave the way for growth in unexpected directions, like pursuing further education, a career shift, or new ventures.
Seeking Expert Guidance and Setting Concrete Goals
If needed, encourage them to seek input from professionals such as financial advisors, business mentors, or legal consultants. These experts can provide unbiased advice, help with recovery from financial mistakes, and suggest practical strategies for moving forward.
Having a clear plan for the short and long term can also help restore a sense of control. Encourage them to set goals and take notes, even if they’re simple, as a way of staying focused. Goal-setting, even in small steps, can reduce feelings of helplessness and build momentum toward progress.
Learning from Business Mistakes for Personal Growth
When the time feels right, encourage them to reflect on the experience and examine the lessons learned from the setback . This should be done with care, as dwelling too much on the past can intensify feelings of dread or self-blame. Instead, try to frame it as an opportunity for personal and professional growth- a reminder that one business decision does not define an entire future.
Each setback is unique, and so is each recovery journey. What works for one person may not work for another. Encourage them to keep a long-term perspective and remember that setbacks in business are typically temporary.
Providing Support and Encouragement
In times of distress, simply being there to listen can be the greatest gift you can offer. Encourage planning and open dialogue—if not with you, then perhaps with a professional therapist who can provide a supportive space for reflection. Remember, your role is to help them focus on the future and the long-term perspective while providing the support they need during this difficult time.
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You might feel lonely that your youngest is starting school or it may seem like only yesterday when it was your child’s first day at school and now he/she’s leaving home to start a third level course.
For some parents, a child starting school is super exciting, while it can be heart-breaking for other parents. Feeling anxious about the start of school term is to be expected because it is a big change. Whatever is happening in your household right now, stay focused and remain relaxed!
It is normal for your child (regardless of age) to have worries and concerns about school. Fears can vary from “which teacher?”; “where will I sit?”; “what if the bus doesn’t stop?”; “what if my friends aren’t my friends anymore?”; “maybe I won’t fit in”; “what if I don’t know what to say”……the list goes on.
Helpful tips
Ensure you have some one-to-one time with each of your children every day and at least every week go for a walk or play some music together or take a spin in the car or chat while doing a chore together etc.
Chat with your child(ren). Your message is always “I’m here to listen” and “I am your ally” so your child(ren) can approach you with worries and will be assured that together you will devise a plan of action to tackle their fears head-on.
Listen to the small things so your child knows you will be there for the big things as they age and worries change.
Encourage your child to share their feelings with you or their other parent / responsible adult. Explain that changes associated with returning/starting school can be difficult, that worries are okay and that it is beneficial to talk about them.
When your child is anxious, it may be easy to become stressed. The more grounded you are the better. It is comforting for your child to see that you are relaxed about a situation particularly when your child is anxious about it. Your child is looking to you for comfort and reassurance, if you react it may send the wrong message to your child and they may panic even more.
When your child comes to you and says they are worried about something, please be careful not to dismiss their worries or undermine their fears. Do not say “don’t worry” or “everyone feels like that”. Instead, chat about what course of action your child can take to help alleviate the worry. Encourage your child to work through the anxiety and to problem-solve. Try to empathise by saying “I see that you’re worried about this”.
Don’t dismiss fears as silly or say “that’s nothing“. When your child comes to you stop whatever you’re doing and listen carefully – show that you are interested in finding a solution. Listening to your child means that you allow them time to speak and time to think about what they want to tell you – don’t jump in too fast or finish sentences! Take time, listen and reflect back what you hear so your child knows you are paying close attention and that what they tell you is important to you.
Don’t break your child’s confidence by discussing their worries behind their back and making fun of them – they won’t confide in you again if they discover that you’re not trustworthy!
Encourage your child to be solutions-focused “what helps you feel relaxed?” or “what can you do that might help you feel better?”
Encourage your child to think about the nice things that happened during the day to gear their attention away from anxious thoughts particularly at night time. A nice way to finish the day is to ask your child, when saying good night, “what’s the best thing that happened today?” or “what was your favourite part of today?”
Praise. Praise. Praise. Every time your child handles a tricky situation and manages their anxiety give plenty praise. Be encouraging. As a parent you can’t always fix everything or be around to offer constant reassurance, but you can give your child the confidence to believe in their own abilities to overcome worries and concerns.
Think about how you behave when you are tired and hungry – we as adults are easily irritated. Your child may be irritable because of hunger or tiredness. It is important to have a good back-to-school routine for sleep and for meals. Watch portion sizes. Don’t reward your child(ren) with food items, instead reward with a trip to the playground or a comic or art materials. Stick to your screen time schedule (i.e. set limits to the amount of time, no screens in the bedroom or at the meal table). So very many children head to bed but not to sleep and school work and concentration suffer as a result of being on line into the small hours.
To recap, chat with your child, stay grounded, be and encourage your child to be solutions-focused, encourage and praise and stick to the back-to-school routine for sleep, food and screen-time!
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Do you know someone who is happy? Perhaps you are that happy person. What ‘happy’ means to me may differ to how you would define it. There are possibly as many definitions of ‘happiness’ as there are people.
Various factors impact and contribute to our overall sense of happiness from involvement in our communities to celebrations, weather, finances, family etc. I don’t have enough space here to examine influences on or definitions of happiness but in my experience, everyone wants to be happy.
Ask yourself ‘Do I want to be happy? If the answer is ‘yes’ put a plan of action into place. We all know that life is not fair but being happy requires an investment of your time and effort because happy people work at being happy.
If you want to be happy follow these tips:
Accept yourself completely – just as you are AND accept your reality. This means you accept your family, house, appearance, birthplace, strengths/limitations, history etc. Acceptance is the key to happiness. (This is not easy but it is vital).
Learn something new – how to put up a shelf, knit, sew, bake a sponge cake – keep your brain active with new knowledge and skills.
Forgive yourself for mistakes you have made. Forgive others for theirs. Let go of resentments – it is difficult to be happy with a heavy heart.
Engage in activities. Start a new hobby such as yoga or Bridge. Join a club or start one e.g. a book club or dinner club with your neighbours/friends.
Spend time with people that make you feel good, ideally positive people. Avoid people who stress you out or drain your energies.
Have a sense of purpose. Happy people have something to do or somewhere to go (even if it is just to the shop for milk).
Do things you are good at, that you enjoy, that are fun or make you feel good. Do them often.
Say NO. If you don’t want to do something don’t do it. If you do, then do so without complaint.
Acknowledge that you are not responsible for other people’s reactions, you are only responsible for yours.
Find your voice and say when you are unhappy about something. (Say I feel x when y because z)
Nurture a loving relationship with YOU. Happy people give themselves breaks and let themselves off the hook. They learn how to relax and how to manage anxieties/stresses.
Set short-term achievable goals. Don’t set yourself up for failure by setting unattainable goals! Set a goal, achieve it, acknowledge the achievement then set new goals!
Invest time in others. Make time for your partner, children, friends, neighbours or strangers.
Watch your language. I don’t mean swear words I mean self-talk. Say only positive things and use only positive words particularly when talking about you.
Help others because it makes us feel happy. Help willingly. Volunteer in your community or to do something nice for a neighbour.
Your brain believes you must be happy if you are smiling, it immediately raises your mood. Smiles are contagious.
Treat your body as well as you can. Eat well, hydrate, keep moving and breathe slowly.
Be kind and gentle, forgiving and compassionate with YOU and others.
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Everyone gets worried from time to time but if your thinking keeps spiralling out of control and into chronic worrying it may be time to seek help. Worry and stress can have different symptoms that affect both our bodies and our minds.
Do you find that you:
Jump to negative conclusions.
Spend time worrying or feel distracted at work or at home.
Try to predict the future but the outcome is never good. For example someone at work mentions that the boss wants to see you and you immediately think “I’m in big trouble” or “I’m going to be fired”.
Think the worst? For example a family member is late home and you think he/she might be involved in a car crash.
Have a mind like a washing machine on spin-cycle with oodles of different thoughts, worries and ideas and you just can’t get them to stop.
Have a feeling of dread or unease and you don’t know why.
Have difficulty falling asleep at night or, once asleep, you wake in the middle of the night and spend hours trying to get back to sleep.
Feel tension in your shoulders, or get headaches or regularly get an upset tummy.
Cry or become annoyed very easily.
Have a ‘tight’ feeling in your chest.
Just not feel like yourself.
Therapy helps you to recognise your unique individual signs and symptoms of worry and stress and it teaches you how to regain control and stop yourself from worrying about things over which you have no control.
I can help you to understand what is happening for you physically and emotionally and help you to learn how to cope and to relax. By learning how to regain control your mind and thoughts, you learn how to manage the worry and stress and ultimately control what is going on in your mind – so that if you have a negative thought you can quickly stop it and change it to a more logical and rational thought. After therapy you will sleep better, feel more positive and confident because you will be in control.
www.carolinecrotty.ie
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