How to Deal With Disappointment

I'm a huge fan of the Oscars.

With Awards season, comes the obligatory tabloid fodder of celebrity stories, the 'what was she thinking wearing that' Daily Mail articles (always she), and whether we will see more diversity in the 2017 Oscar nominees.

Birmingham Awards, Here We Come

Imagine my excitement when I found out that Stilettos Network, a little organisation I've been working on with some amazing women for a number of years, had been nominated for a Birmingham Award. If that wasn't enough, I was blown away when I was shortlisted for Business Woman of the year.

At the Awards evening itself, I was determined we should forget about winning, soak up the atmosphere and be the last ones to leave the dance floor, as we had done the previous year. But I couldn't help getting caught up in thoughts of what might happen if I were lucky enough to win. Plus, I was surrounded by a table full of hyped cheerleaders rooting for me, who arguably deserved an award themselves for liveliest table.

Oscars 'Didn't Win' Face

One of the things I love about the Oscars is the camera that pans to the faces of the nominees as they're about to announce the winner. I've always wondered how difficult it is to hold a poker face, or to avoid blurting out an expletive if you don't win. And now I know, firsthand. I didn't know I was being filmed, but I'm pleased to say that my face managed to hold it together and I even managed a smile.

Lessons From Madonna

In addition to Drucker, Gladwell, Covey and Porter, Madonna's long music career is filled with invaluable nuggets on business strategy and reinvention. But one of my favourite Madonna lessons is the way she got right back up and carried on singing when she was almost garrotted by her own cape and sent flying down the stairs at The Brits. As shockingly funny as it was at the time (kind of), the enduring lesson was what a trooper and consummate professional she was. That and avoiding tie-neck capes for on-stage changes.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Missing out on winning this year's Award has been nowhere near as bad as Madonna's cape fiasco. And with a new day comes a new perspective. Being shortlisted in the same category as some of Birmingham's best and brightest women has inspired me to get out there and continue to make positive waves. But before I go, I thought I'd share the tips I plan to put in place for my bounce back.

1 Acknowledge & Acceptance

Don't be so hard on yourself - give yourself a moment to feel a bit gutted. Whilst I was comforted by words of 'you've done so well to be nominated', the reality was I would have preferred to win. If I didn't have feelings of disappointment, I wouldn't be human, which of course I am, most of the time.

2 Get Perspective

It's not the end of the world. It can't be. You're still breathing and you're still the same person, with the same skills and strengths as before. Regardless of what has happened to you, you will come out the other side, and probably stronger for it, in terms of emotional resilience and lessons on how to do things better.

3 Refocus

Once you have allowed yourself time to wallow for a bit and gained some perspective, you can then think about whether or not you need to do anything differently going forwards. Don't over-think it, but do revisit your goals and reprioritise based on what you have learnt.

4 Keep Going

ShoeDog, the Nike story by Phil Knight, is now officially one of my favourite business books ever after reading it over the Summer. Of the many takeaways, one quote stuck in my head - The cowards never started and the weak died along the way...

Don't be a coward, don't be weak. Keep Going.