What happens when you are forced to start over? Not surprisingly, you start over. It sounds like the simplest thing in the world. But, it is hard to climb a mountain all over again once you reached the top before. So here you are again, at the bottom of the mountain. You know you have to get back up to the top, but you motivation is at zero and the thought of starting…again is just painful.

This happened to me recently. Granted it wasn’t a particularly dramatic “starting over” but one just the same. As you might have noticed, my website has been overhauled a bit. Well, in the process of this redesign a combination of bad advice, stupidity on my part, and some rotten luck, I lost every single one of my previous blog posts. Hours and hours of work…gone. Needless to say, I was not happy, but I thought I would take advantage of my misfortune and use it to fuel the maiden blog of the new website.

So here you go…5 tips for starting over. Maybe you’re going back to school. Maybe you’re recently divorced. Maybe you’ve just lost someone you care about, restarted a diet or hopped back on the wagon. Either way, this one’s for you.

1. Remember that you already know how to do this.

If you are starting again, then you can rest assured that nothing up ahead is uncharted territory for you. It might not be much, but there is strength in knowing you have already conquered whatever is on your horizon.

2. All it takes is one step, and then another.

Try not to think about the whole journey in front of you. Just think about your next step. Come on. You can take one step, right? Sure you can! Now, take another one. You see how simple that can be? Just a little bit at a time and you’ll be right back where you want to be in no time.

3. You are more prepared for this journey than you were last time.

That’s right. Last time, something tripped you up. That’s why you’re here again. What was it? How can you deal with it this time around? Take what you learned from your mishap and use it to make you better.

4. The journey can sometimes be as good as the destination.

When we fall, and are forced to get back up again, we can usually find someone who can help us. Maybe they’ve fallen too, or maybe their feet are planted. Either way, getting up and starting again helps us to rely on others, and some beautiful relationships can form that way.

5. You haven’t failed.

Listen to me now. You might feel like a failure, but you’re not. You want to know how I know that? It’s because you haven’t quit. Sure, you might have spent some time working up the nerve to step up to the starting line again, but you haven’t quit altogether. It is impossible to really fail as long as you’re still fighting. So, hang in there. You got this.

I sure hope this has helped you. It has certainly been a healing process for me to write this. Leave me a comment below and let me know your tips for starting over.