Introduction
Welcome back to the weekly newsletter.
I hope your holidays were calm, warm, and full of the people who matter. This week between Christmas and New Year is a gift: quiet mornings, slower inboxes, and space to think. It’s the perfect window to reset how we treat setbacks. Not with shame. With strategy. Let’s turn this reflective season into fuel for the year ahead.
Failure isn’t final; it’s feedback. But only if you process it fast. When we stall in blame or denial, we freeze skill growth and confidence. When we reframe quickly, we protect momentum and learn on the spot. Here’s a tight system: three questions, asked right after any miss, to turn pain into progress you can use the very next day.
Weekly highlight: Turn setbacks into fuel in three questions.
Delay makes stories grow teeth. The longer you wait, the harsher the narrative becomes: “I always mess up,” “I’m not built for this.” Fast reframing stops that spiral. You keep the facts small and the lesson sharp. That protects motivation and keeps you moving.
The 3-Question Reset
Q1: What happened (facts only)?
Use numbers, timestamps, and concrete events. “Missed the client deadline by 24 hours.” “Skipped three workouts this week.” Just data. Facts shrink fear and give you something you can act on.
Q2: What is the single lesson?
Pick one cause you can influence. Not five. One. “I started too late.” “I said yes to a random meeting.” “The plan had no buffer.” Tie the lesson to a lever you control so you can change it today, not someday.
Q3: What rule will I run next time?
Turn the lesson into a clear behavior rule. “Prepare draft a day earlier” “Decline any invite without an agenda.” “Block 45 minutes before lunch for deep work.” Rules beat wishes. A rule you can follow beats a plan you admire.
Micro-examples:
Workout streak broken:
Q1: Trained once; planned three.
Q2: Evenings fail; energy too low.
Q3: Rule: 15-minute morning session right after coffee, shoes by the door.
Team conflict email sent in heat:
Q1: Replied in 6 minutes; tone was sharp.
Q2: No pause protocol.
Q3: Rule: One-hour cool-off + “facts/story/ask” structure before send.
Common traps (and fixes)
Trap: Generalizing (“I’m terrible at this”).
Fix: Return to Q1. Write three facts. Nothing else.
Trap: Lesson shopping (five lessons, zero action).
Fix: Choose one lever. Park the rest.
Trap: Vague rule (“I’ll try harder”).
Fix: Add a trigger, time, and finish line.
Keep the loop short
Run the 3Q Reset the same day. The loop is: event → 3Qs → rule → next rep. No long debriefs. No public post. Just the next attempt with a better rule. That’s how confidence grows: you keep promises in small cycles and watch results improve.
When the failure is big
Name the emotion privately. Breathe. Then still run the 3Qs within 24 hours. Add one stabilizer rule (sleep window, walk, or call a mentor) so you don’t burn the week. Healing and learning can run together.
The mindset shift
You’re not your last outcome. You’re the system you run after it. Facts → lesson → rule. Repeat. That’s how pros treat failure: as a fast instructor, not a final grade.
Application
- Run the 3Q Reset on one miss from this week. Write Q1–Q3 in 90 seconds.
- Install one rule for the next attempt. Add trigger, time, and finish line.
- Test within 48 hours. Don’t wait for “perfect conditions.”
- Archive the win. If the rule works, keep it. If not, refine and rerun.
Summary
Failure gets heavy when you let it linger. Keep it light. Capture facts, extract one lesson, install one rule, and move. Do this fast and often and you’ll enter January with momentum, not regret.
Till next time,
Maciej
Build the Life You Were Meant to Live
👉 Are you ready to start?
Begin with Bronze: Establish Foundations. a free training to help you reclaim your time, energy, and focus, so you can finally start making meaningful progress.
Take Control of Your Career
Complete blueprint to accelerate your career, salary and change forever the way you look at your career.
👉 Want to learn full framework?
Start with Career Framework. This free training and toolkit help you understand how your career really works, so you can stop guessing, start strategizing, and build a career that actually moves forward.
👉 Ready to re-design your career around your true value?
Step into Career as Product Course. If you're feeling stuck in your role, unsure how to communicate your value, or wondering why others with less experience are advancing faster, this course is for you.
No pressure. Just the tools, structure, and mindset to move forward, wherever you're starting from.
Responses