A career is never a straight line but a winding path riddled with sharp turns, deep pits, and rough roads. In short, it’s not an easy journey. Whether you are a chef or an engineer, a freelance blogger or an investment banker, it’s tough to survive and thrive. At every nook and cranny, you will find a new challenge that will be scarier than the previous one. Failure will knock at your door, sometimes more frequently than you can imagine. Days will appear gloomy, and success will appear as a figment of imagination.
Failure is never colourful. It’s grey and dark that can make you feel low. So, how does one find motivation when you’re at your lowest? Turns out, it all comes down to choosing one between a “red pill” and a “blue pill” as shown in the movie, Matrix. You can either take the latter, remain ignorant and do nothing about your circumstances. Or take the red pill and fight. From the owner of the famous Pizza joint in your neighbourhood to entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk, everyone has fought their worst nightmares to achieve success.
The thing about success is, it cannot be found without a few setbacks and bumps and bruises. Instead of running away from it, see a setback as an opportunity to learn something new and become better at what you do. Here are a few tips to deal with failure in your career and climb the success ladder.
Treat failure as a learning opportunity
No one likes to fail. It’s an awful feeling that can hurt your confidence, and in worst cases, compel you to quit. But failure is not evil but a blessing in disguise. It’s a mirror that can show you where you went wrong, what will work and what will not. It can help you plan better and prepare for future challenges. The more you fail, the better your chances get to find success in the days to come. You just have to see a failure for what it is and not something earth-shattering.
Many treat a setback as the end of the world, which it isn’t. Failures don’t define who you are or what you can become in future. So don’t see them as a spanner in the works. Change your attitude and keep moving forward.
Learn from those who endured and survived
Anyone who has made it to the end has a story to tell. A story of courage, survival, and triumph over failure. Take Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson for instance. He is the epitome of success, one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood and a beloved name in the industry. Before cementing his status in the world of wrestling, he spent most of his days broke and jobless. The Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs was ousted from his company, which he built from scratch with his sweat and blood, only to found another billion-dollar firm, Pixar, and re-joining Apple as its CEO. Brian Acton was rejected by Facebook before he sowed the seeds of WhatsApp and sold his venture to the social media giant for $21.8B. The world is full of such rags-to-riches stories that tell the same story of success and give the same message of never giving up.
Think rationally
No matter what catastrophe occurs, an apple will always grow on an apple tree. The same goes for an orange, a mango, or any other fruit. Likewise, a failure cannot change who you are and your capabilities. Still, when you face a setback, often, it becomes the last stop of your journey. You lose sight of what’s real and what’s not. Fear and disappointment cloud your rational thinking and replace it with loathing and berating. Don’t let this happen to you. When you experience a challenge, deal with it. And you can do this when you are thinking rationally.
Revisit your failure. If your presentation was bad, ask yourself why. Take feedback if possible. Then work on making it right the next time instead of wallowing in self-pity.
Treat failure as a learning opportunity, learn from those who endured and survived, think rationally, step out of your comfort zone, keep hustling, and don?t indulge in self-pity.
Viewing failure as a chance to learn and grow shifts your perspective from defeat to progress. Embracing failure as a teacher empowers you to develop resilience and refine your skills.
Learning from those who have faced and triumphed over career setbacks offers valuable insights and inspiration. Their experiences can provide guidance on navigating challengesand finding alternative paths to success.
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