If someone’s successful, have they always been so?
You know the answer: of course not! Successful folks no doubt had many upon many failures and setbacks.
While tales of achievement can inspire us, it’s just as important to talk about how someone’s failures helped them in their professional growths. It may feel counterintuitive to embrace your mistakes, but they’re essential to becoming resilient and building the career you want.
The stigma around “failing” too often keeps too many of us from reaching out full potential: we become risk-averse.
Yet reframing our mistakes and failures as necessary learning experiences helps us break down our fear of failure (*I’m still kicking!”) while embracing the terrific lessons these setbacks bring us.
Embracing the “Suck.”
When something bad happens (especially if it’s something that you had a part in creating), it’s best to take some time and analyze it.
- What went wrong?
- What could you have done differently?
- When was the actual point when you made the decision that ended up the “bad” one?
Looking at the things you did to contribute to your failure and then identifying how you could have done better, will provide you with insights about future decisions. This process of self-reflection and analysis is the first step in success.
Failure is Key to Building Mental Toughness and Resilience.
Every misstep we make provides us a chance to learn coping skills and offers a chance to practice strategies that will help us recover.
Maintaining a growth mindset and seeing problems and mistakes as opportunities to learn and develop helps us grow the resilience we need to weather our career’s ups and downs.
Let’s not also forget that failure often is a catalyst for innovation. Many outstanding inventions and ideas were born from failed attempts. Embracing calculated risks and then learning from setbacks that may happen as a result, opens us to finding new and incredible solutions.
Don’t hide from your mistakes.
What we mean by this: discuss them with others. Others can help us see our failures as chances to grow. Also, creating a support network of peers and even mentors often means we learn that everyone has failed at some point – sometimes at many points.
Embracing failure also is important when it comes to a job search. You’ll no doubt be asked at some point to name a failure in your past and discuss what you learned and how it helped in your professional development.
It’s best to couch the mistake as one that shows your adaptability and growth mindset: discuss how your mistakes/failures have helped you move your career forward.
Everyone makes mistakes in their careers. EVERYONE!
If you’ve find yourself looking for work, don’t settle for a setback; check out our job openings here at Debbie’s Staffing.
Don’t forget to send us your resume, as well: we often fill jobs are clients have before we ever post them on our website.
