Losing is something that happens to you. How you react is something you do.

There is a line between the event and your part in it, and it is easy to lose track of in the hour afterward. The result may have involved luck, other people, or a hundred conditions you did not set. What follows is yours, and it is usually the only piece anyone remembers, including you.

Give the disappointment its time without deciding anything. Then, once the sting has dulled, pick the one thing you would do differently and leave the rest of the result where it belongs.