How to cope with failure in your career
“If you have never failed, you have never tried anything new” - Albert Einstein
There is no real formula for success, and life never comes with a 100 percent guarantee card. Failures, quite inevitably, have always been a part of everyone’s life at some point. However, if we had decided to tread back after every failure in life, then we certainly would not have reached where we are today.
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Often, a failure in career is taken way more seriously than it really deserves. It is only natural for you to make mistakes in your journey. But why give up when you can face the situation and actually win the battle? Every failure needs to be acknowledged properly and be treated as a lesson for the next step forward. Although this is easier said than done, here are a few ways of dealing with failure.
Seek help
Understand that you are definitely not alone. Every year, hundreds of billions of people face rejections and failures in their career. Yet, they have the fortitude to come back into game with renewed vigor. Do not build walls around yourself and shut out people who might be of some help. Seek help when you need help. You never know who might help you chart your next way forward.
Analyse and Visualise
Acknowledge the real cause of your failure. Think about the mistakes in the process with an objective to analyse properly. Figure out as many factors that led to your failure as you can. This will then help you plan your to-do list for the next step.
Visualise where you want to be in the future and realign your goals accordingly. You need to know how you want your story to end. This will help you trace the dots to that final goal.
Frame an action plan
Break down your goals in to actual action points. Keep the action points as simple as possible and see if they need further classification. Allot deadlines and resources needed for the same. Invest in your personal development to help you stay focused for accomplishing all action points. Take online courses to hone your skills for these, if needed.
Prepare well
Zig Ziglar, author, salesman, and motivational speaker aptly said, “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalise on what comes.” Do not plan like a headless chicken but actually be calm and figure out the way forward. If you are an entrepreneur, ensure that you know how well-equipped you are. Have a contingency plan to sustain your career, if needed.
Persist
Planning is what gets you moving toward your vision, but persistence is what keeps you going. Remind yourself what kept you going for so long. Like Elon Musk said, “If something is important enough you should try, even if the probable outcome is failure.”
Understand that failures are indeed the stepping stones to success. When you develop a positive attitude to make peace with negative feedback in a constructive manner, you will realise what failures and coping up really mean.
