Week 9: Course-Correcting – Learning to Adapt When Life Throws Curveballs

(If you’re new here, this post is part of a 12-week series: The SONG Framework for Living Your Dreams. You can catch the introduction here.)

Life has a way of knocking us off our feet. Sometimes gently… sometimes with a force you didn’t see coming. This week, we explore the art of getting back up—gracefully, intentionally, and with your dream still in sight.

To begin, let’s revisit a story that has been passed down for centuries, one that beautifully captures the spirit of persistence.

Robert the Bruce and the Spider: A Lesson in Trying Again

Legend tells of Robert the Bruce, the King of Scotland, hiding in a cold, damp cave after suffering several crushing defeats in battle. Exhausted and discouraged, he felt the weight of failure pressing heavily on him. His confidence had wavered. His dream seemed distant. And part of him wondered if it was time to surrender altogether.

As he sat there, lost in thought, he noticed a spider at the edge of the cave—tiny, determined, focused. It was trying to cast its web from one rock beam to another. The first attempt failed. The silk dropped.
The second attempt also failed.
Then the third… and the fourth… and the fifth.

By the sixth try, Bruce found himself shaking his head, thinking, “Surely this little creature must give up now.” After all, if he felt defeated, how much more a creature so small?

But the spider didn’t stop.

It paused, gathered itself, and tried again.

On the seventh attempt, the silk finally caught. It held. And slowly, the web began to take shape.

Something shifted in Robert the Bruce in that moment. If a small spider could persist through repeated setbacks—without excuses, without surrender—then maybe he could too. Maybe defeat was not final. Maybe it was simply part of the journey.

With renewed determination, he rose from that cave, returned to his men, and eventually led Scotland to victory.

This simple moment captures the heart of course-correcting: you don’t always need a new goal—you often just need a new strategy.

You Don’t Change the Goal; You Change the Strategy

One of the greatest misconceptions about setbacks is that they mean the dream itself is invalid. But failure and hard moments don’t automatically signal that your goal is wrong. More often, they reveal that the approach needs a rework.

My message for you this week is simple:
Hard moments are not a cue to stop. They are part of becoming who you are meant to be.

Pause if you must. Catch your breath. But don’t abandon what matters.

Of course, there are times when a goal genuinely no longer aligns with who you’ve grown into. And that’s okay. When your values shift or your identity evolves, you are allowed—encouraged, even—to realign your goals.

But what you shouldn’t do is drop a meaningful dream simply because it became uncomfortable. No path toward greatness is smooth all the way through.

When a Strategy Fails, You Have Two Options

Option 1: Give up, craft clever excuses, and chase something new.

This pattern is subtle but familiar. Always busy, always “working on something,” but never quite hitting the meaningful milestones. When the work gets tough, the mind generates very intellectual (and convincing!) reasons why the goal is “no longer viable.”

But often, this is not clarity—it’s avoidance.
Avoiding discomfort.
Avoiding failure.
Avoiding imagined judgment.

And that’s not the version of you we are nurturing here.

Option 2: Course-correct.
This is where the growth mindset thrives. This is where learning happens. This is where true progress is made.

Every success story you admire has a hidden file of failed attempts behind it. Every single one.

So How Do You Course-Correct?

Here’s a simple rhythm to guide your next steps.

1. Allow Yourself to Mourn the Setback

Acknowledging the disappointment is part of healing.
Cry if you need to. Sit with the emotions.
Give yourself a defined mourning window—not a permanent residence.

Once that window closes, rise again. Renewed. Lighter.

2. Ask Yourself: “So What? What Next?”

This question shifts you from emotion to strategy.

Maybe you tried one route and it didn’t work. That doesn’t mean the goal is dead—it means the method needs adjusting.

Take a fitness example:
You set out to lose 10 kg this year through morning runs. Things were going well… until you injured your knee. Suddenly, running is off the table—not because you’re lazy, not because you lack discipline, but because your body simply can’t handle that form of training anymore.

So now you’re faced with a choice.
Do you abandon the goal altogether because the original plan is no longer possible?
Of course not.

Your goal hasn’t changed—you still want to get stronger, healthier, lighter. What needs to change is the strategy. Instead of running, perhaps you explore low-impact options like swimming, cycling, Pilates, or strength training. You may even discover a new form of movement you love more than running ever offered you.

The point is simple:
Your circumstances changed, not your desire. So you adjust the plan, not the dream.

And remember:

You just need to rise one more time than life manages to knock you down. Every fall counts only if it keeps you there—so make sure you always stand up one time more than you hit the ground.

Your Homework

Take a quiet moment this week to reflect.

Is there a goal you still deeply desire—but dropped because things got a little hard?
Sit with that question.
Imagine where you might be today if you had remained persistent and explored alternative routes.

Then write down one small action you can take to pick the goal back up. It doesn’t need to be dramatic—it just needs to be truthful.

If you feel called to share your reflection or your next step, I would love to hear it. Your courage may be the spark someone else needs today.