How to Recover from a Breakdown

You have a flat tire. What is a better approach?

Option A: Say to yourself: "What a stupid car! I can't believe you got a flat tire. What's wrong with you? You could have done better!"
or
Option B: Get out of the car, diagnose the problem, and decide your next action.
When you have a car problem, you call it a breakdown, not a moral failure.
Too many people make mistakes and then get caught in a cycle of self-judgment and blame. It is better to get pause, figure out what got off track, and then choose your next action.

I have developed a process to help you learn from your breakdowns. Use these as journaling prompts to evaluate the situation and then get back into action.

1. What’s the data? What are the objective facts? What would a video camera record?
2. What are you feeling?What is your predominant feeling, i.e. anger? What are feelings underneath the anger, i.e. sadness?
3. What are your thoughts that led to the breakdown?
4. What are thoughts that can help you recover from this breakdown?
5. What values did you compromise?
6. How can you avoid this breakdown in the future?
7. How would staying in integrity in this area serve you or others?
8. What actions are you going to take to clean this up?