Setbacks are perceived as threats by your emotional brain, and when in front of a threat, your autonomous nervous system exerts a “fight or flight” response. In this state, your brain resorts to extreme beliefs, so you often do not notice a number of options and feel stuck, The more the distress, the less options you can see. What you can do is learn to use your thinking processes as a tool to soothe your distress and problem-solve more effectively.

When you feel stuck, this is what you can do:

• Start with what you can control: your internal experience
• Name your emotions: it‘s the first step to manage them
• Lessen your rigid “Shoulds”: no matter how justified, they make you feel worse and limit your effectiveness to deal with the situation