If there is anything that can go wrong, it usually will.  Life is guaranteed to have difficulties, challenges and setbacks. Sometimes you feel that the ground just caved in under your legs.  And when you think that there cannot be anything else that will go wrong – something does.

Even if you consider yourself to be a strong character, sometimes, some days, so much goes wrong, that you feel that you are never going to be able to cope again.

We all have setbacks and life happens but more often than not it is our perception of an incidence that really influences our reaction rather than the incidence itself. Let’s face it when one thing goes wrong, you breathe and cope.  But when the second and the third go wrong, you start to panic.  The truth is that the second or the third problem, if isolated, could be easily dealt with. However, when you compound problems you feel overwhelm and you start questioning yourself “how am I going to overcome all these challenges?”

Whether we are facing a career-related setback or even a life setback our first reaction is kneejerk.  We usually respond with anger, defeat, sadness or even panic.  If we are in a position to do so, we also shift the blame to someone else, because it is easier to cope.

These reactions are quite “normal”and it is our defense mechanism that kicks-in fast to help us deal with roadblock or challenges.  But none of them really help us to overcome challenges.

We are all under the same sun and setbacks happen to everyone, even to the most successful and steel nerved people.  This is so true, that in fact, we tend to find inspiration from successful people who have overcome more than fair share of setbacks.

We look up to Oprah Winfrey – whose life of constant battles with her ethnicity, her upbringing, and her struggles to make it as world’s best talk show host make her the Queen of challenges.

We draw inspiration from Steve Jobs  the business magnate who co-founded Apple only to be ditched by his own board and later called back to save the brand.

And how about Mark Cuban?  At 22, Mark worked at a bank and contributed to the CEO by sending him notes on how to save the bank some money.  The CEO did not appreciate and let Mark know in no uncertain words. Mark left the bank and slept at friends’ houses for months.  Later got a job with a PC software company but got fired again.  Today he is a magnate worth more than $4.3 billion.

The list can go on and there is certainly no shortage of people who not only overcome challenges but become success stories.  But we need to keep things into perspective and although it is not likely than many of us are lined up to become the net Oprah, Jobs or Cuban, we certainly could do with a bit of help with facing setbacks. 

For this reason, I have prepared five magic mantras from people who have influenced my journey in becoming an entrepreneur and business coach and that have helped me tremendously to overcome challenges: