Falling Down Isn’t the Problem. Staying Down Is.

Some days life just knocks you flat.
Deadlines slip, plans fall apart, the motivation you had on Sunday disappears by Monday morning.
It happens to all of us — no matter how together things look on the outside.

Working in professional sport taught me that failure isn’t the issue.
I’ve seen athletes miss kicks, drop catches, lose finals — moments that play out in front of millions.
But the ones who went on to succeed were never the ones who never fell.
They were the ones who got back up, again and again.

The same applies to the rest of us. Life will floor you sometimes — with pressure, loss, exhaustion, doubt.
The real skill is learning how to reset quickly and rise again.
Here are three ways to start.

1. Shift the frame

When something goes wrong, our first instinct is why me?
But the question that changes everything is what can this teach me?
That single shift turns setbacks into data — and data helps you grow.
In sport, we reviewed losses more than wins. That’s where progress happened.

2. Shorten the reset time

Don’t wait to feel better.
Take one small action — reply to an email, go for a walk, write one line of the plan you’ve been avoiding.
Action creates energy.
Movement builds momentum.
Even the smallest step puts you back in control.

3. Anchor yourself

When pressure feels heavy, anchor your focus in gratitude.
It sounds simple, but gratitude literally changes your physiology — it calms the nervous system and shifts your attention from what’s missing to what’s working.
In elite sport, gratitude was often the difference between freezing under pressure and performing with freedom.

That’s why I created the Gratitude for Pressure meditation — a short, practical reset I still use today whenever things feel overwhelming.

You can listen to it free via the link below. It’s designed to help you breathe, refocus, and stand back up — fast.

The takeaway

Falling down isn’t the problem.
Staying down is.
Whether you’re chasing a personal goal, building a business, or just getting through a tough week — resilience starts with one small reset.

You don’t have to feel ready.
You just have to get back up.