How Do You Relate to Failure? (Weekly Challenger 7/21/2008)
The way you react to failure has an impact on how successful you are. People who are afraid of failure, or see it as a terrible, hideous thing, tend not to take on new projects, learn new skills, or take advantage of opportunities. They play it safe, and stagnate.
Successful people, on the other hand, see failure as simply a result of an experiment. Something didn’t work. So, what will? And then they try something else.
The truth is, failure isn’t bad. It’s the messages you send to yourself that can be a problem.
This week, notice how you consider the possibility of failure as you go through your life. Do you accept it, or do you avoid it? What are the messages you’re telling yourself about failure?
August 20th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
For me I am currently facing the issue of feeling like I have failed - again. This job hasn’t worked out. I had health issues right from the start that affected my concentration which meant my colleagues didn’t trust my work - increasing my feeling of failure.
This has been one of four jobs that didn’t work out - three jobs only had one hour’s work a day so I left, one had such a toxic atmosphere that it was hard to breathe working there.
I’m leaving to do what I have skills in and am meant to do - be a secretary. In my current job I only type details in a basic database and into a basic Internet form.
It’s hard to see this job as an experiment that didn’t work, even though I know the agency did a poor job of placing me. I’m working on not mentally beating myself up but to simply move on from thinking about my current job. However, I still feel a strong sense of “poor me”.
August 27th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Health issues and job frustration certainly will test your resolve to see life through a positive lens. What I see in you, though, is an amazing resiliency and willingness to keep experimenting until you find what’s right for you.
So many people are willing to settle for what’s there, even if it makes them unhappy. I applaud you for not accepting that. The failure isn’t in you; it’s in something external, something outside yourself that you tried that didn’t work out. You will continue to experiment, and you will find your successes. And I want to be the first to hear about them!