Well, it finally happened.

Since I travel a lot for work, I am always mindful of potential car problems, especially flat tires.

I’ve had a pretty good run of no issues, but last week, when traveling home from a training event, I inadvertently ran over a nail and got a flat tire. So, I found a safe place to pull over, changed the tire, and got back on the road.

That experience provided an important reminder…

In leadership and in life, things don’t always go according to plan.

When that happens, here’s four things we can do:

Accept the new reality. Complaining, venting, and ruminating about a negative thing that has happened might make us feel better in the moment, but it will not change our circumstances. The faster we can accept our new reality, the faster we can move ahead, rather than being stuck. One thing that helps me is to say/ask the following: “This has happened. How can I make the best of it?”

Adapt to the new reality and what it requires. Once we’ve accepted the new reality of a situation, we can adapt and adjust to it. Adapting means understanding that the new reality may require something different from us than our Plan A did. Once I changed my flat tire and put on the spare, I understood that I could not travel at the same speed or travel as many miles as I could on the normal tire; so, I had to adjust my driving style and expectations. One question we can ask ourselves that might help is: “What does this new reality require of me?”

Take the appropriate action. When we accept our new reality and understand what it requires of us, we can then take the appropriate action. This sequence of events is important because it keeps us from simply reacting to a negative event and enables us to act in a more informed way. We can ask ourselves, “What is the most appropriate action I could take in the face of this new reality?”

Keep moving forward. When I got my flat tire, I did not want to stay where I was; I wanted to get home. This meant that I had to keep moving forward, after I had accepted my new reality, adjusted to it, and taken the appropriate action. Even when life forces us to take detours, we must keep moving forward in order to get where we want to be. So a question to ask is, “How can I keep moving forward through this new reality?”

Even when you’re feeling flat, keep going!