Ways to Deal with Professional Disappointment and Move Forward

Disappointment is defined as sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one’s hopes or expectations. Professional disappointment occurs in a career setting and can stop us from moving forward to the next step in what we are attempting to do in our career. Professional disappointment restricts you from being focused on the present and on the future.

The face of professional disappointment

In a professional sense, disappointment can have many faces. Not getting the promotion you believe you worked so hard for. Not being able to work on a project that you have the experience to participate in. Being overlooked for a job that you meet all the qualifications. And the list continues. When confronting professional disappointment, you have to identify the reasons (eliminating emotions) why your goal remained unmet.

As you move through various parts of your career, disappointment will surface at various times. Even those who achieved a high level of success in their profession have been faced with professional disappointment more than once. A key to experiencing disappointment is learning from this time in your life and not allowing it to keep you in the same state. You have to move forward.

With professional disappointment, it can attack your confidence in ways that may not occur with personal disappointment. These effects are different. You may question whether you are in the correct field or did you say the right things when presented with an opportunity. Letting yourself focus on the past briefly does aid in moving ahead; however staying in the What If portion of disappointment can be detrimental. 

Feelings after experiencing professional disappointment

You feel let down

When you know that you have worked extremely hard and given everything you have to a situation professional and it does not go in your favor, you feel let down. If you have been with a company for a certain amount of time or been in a profession for awhile, experiencing a professional disappointment can create feelings of defeat.

You feel inadequate

What ever stage you are in your career, experiencing disappointment makes you feel inadequate. You feel like you do not have the appropriate skills to accomplish the task. If you attended a university or had specialized training, experiencing a professional disappointment creates feelings of inadequacy.

Recovering from professional disappointment

Make another goal

Here is a blog post on goal writing using the SMART goal format. SMART goals provide This format is great to use in the personal and professional setting as it illustrates a format for the steps you need to reach a goal and allows you to determine clearly when you have met the goal.

SMART goal format

• Specific- What do you want to achieve?
• Measurable- How will you measure success of this goal?
• Attainable- Do you have the skills to reach this goal? Can you learn the skills to reach this goal?
• Relevant- Is this something you are interested in? Does it motivate you?
• Time-based- When is the deadline to have this goal completed?

After professional disappointment, focus again establishing another goal.

Highlight your deficits

Identify where improvements can be made. This is not to make yourself feel worse than you already do. Finding areas in yourself where improvements can be made allows you to move ahead from your current position. Identification of these areas is key. Having a professional mentor help you identify areas is also a great way to allow yourself to look into those difficult areas while having some support as well.

Implement a professional improvement plan

Using a professional improvement plan can help you address deficits to hopefully limit the amount of disappointment in the future. Professional improvement will always have some sort of pay out for you in your career. It may address a present state, but it is also beneficial for your future as well.

Here is a link to an article that speaks to leaders improving themselves. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2020/12/16/7-self-improvement-actions-all-leaders-must-take/?sh=d25ec79f5186

My own professional disappointment

I have experienced numerous professional disappointments in my past. One as recent as the week when I am writing this blog post. But I know that I will continue to flourish in my professional environment because I strive to move forward.

This recent professional disappointment caught me off guard and was unexpected. I think that those are the most difficult to deal with because it is an outcome that surprises you. And I was surprised!

Now I could have remained unfocused and wallowed in the disappointment, which I did briefly. The key for wallowing is briefly doing it. I was surprised and saddened but then I decided on my next step. Then, I planned that next step.

It is never easy to be able to determine what the next step should be when you are getting over a disappointment, but it can be done. So I have made another goal and will be working towards accomplishing it.

Have you experienced professional disappointment? Have you been able to recover from that set back? What were your methods to move forward? Share in the comments to create a helpful discussion for other professionals who may be combatting professional disappointment. 

I am not a doctor of mental health, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, or a counselor. I am a wife, mother of 3 children, and an entrepreneur who has numerous life experiences that I utilize to create blog posts, as well as personal research that I perform. Thank you for reading this post and share with others you know will benefit from this information!

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I am passionate about optimal work life balance and I can help women excel in both areas without compromising in either area because I have found systems of planning, organization, and personal development that help achieve goals. I created this blog to discuss topics on our journey of motherhood that we experience daily. Come on this journey with me and Find Your Flourish!

Be you, be focused, be well! Find Your Flourish! |Shanna|