3 | Normalising Failure
Hey friends,
This week I committed myself to hosting a room every evening on 'Clubhouse', and the room I was able to take the most from in terms of reframing my mindset, was titled 'Overcoming Failure'.
Here I was able to hear from many young professionals and entrepreneurs from various backgrounds who I would have otherwise never come across (had it not been for the platform), many of which have had to battle adversity to a far greater extent, than I have personally experienced. Of course this being in the context of young graduates; in the past I have only been exposed to those in my direct sphere of influence, but opening myself up to hear from those outside it, I have been able to hear many unconventional yet highly merit-able journeys by fellow young graduates.
Here are some of my key takeaways from the room:
Pressure to perform never goes away. From starting a business or role where your main aim is to grow, right the way through to when one hits a peak, at which point you are responsible for all those within your team (all of their incomes in a business point of view and success of a project in terms of management).
Accept that failure is part of the process. If you are pushing yourself, then failure is inevitable at some point. Where the growth really takes place, is where you can reflect upon your past iterations and seek to improve upon your next venture.
You are as strong as your network. You are influenced by those around you, but you are also able to learn and create with those around you. In microeconomics there is a well known concept called 'division of labour' in which firms are able to produce more output per unit of labour, as they are able to have staff specialise within distinctive parts of the manufacturing process. In the same way we can utilise our network to utilise everyones strengths and in turn reduce the chances of failure due to in-expertise.
'You can connect the dots looking backwards, but not looking forwards'. Looking at failure in the moment can seem a waste of time and energy, but in the grand scheme of things, it is past failures that have put us on the path that we find ourselves on today, and if we are to expose ourselves to more scenarios where we would have previously feared failure, who knows where such a serendipitous vehicle can take us over time.
In the past I have tended to handle failure poorly and avoided putting myself in future scenarios where failure looks probable. I now take a different perspective to how I view failure, I see it as part of the process to reaching the unthinkable.
It's all fun and games saying this stuff, but I would strongly recommend starting out by creating a rejection journal (here’s a template from Arun Jayaraj) to help view your attempts in reaching out to those your inspired by, and seeing how any failures play out in the grand scheme of things. I have personally noticed that having reached out to 5 people that I am inspired by, I was able to jump on a zoom call with 3 of them and they have completely changed my outlook on certain projects I'm working on. I only even considered reaching out to them after taking this rejection journal seriously, and it’s already had a huge impact.
If this helps put rejection into perspective, then why not start writing down / taping / videoing your experience throughout other projects your pursuing, so that upon reflection, you can see what path your failures led you on too. Oh and SHARE with others (if you feel comfortable)! I've learnt a great deal from others sharing their journeys and lessons along the way, but only a few which I find relatable to my own field or journey, which I in turn am able to learn from more.
Failure’s normal. Try it sometime?
Quote of the week 💭
"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." — Apple's "Think Different" commercial, 1997
A recommended watch 👨💻
To anyone who hasn’t discovered notion, stop living under a rock. In all seriousness it’s a great way to organise your notes and all sorts of digital clutter. I’ve been working on creating a digital second brain for the past year, and it’s a game changer! Check out this video by Elizabeth Filips on her second brain:
A question❓
What project are you putting off due to a fear of failure?
I would love to hear from you if you share an interest in the topics I write about, have any feedback to help me improve or just want to say hi 👋
Feel free to dm me on Twitter or Instagram, let’s connect!
Subscribe below to follow me on my journey and receive my newsletter directly in your inbox at 7PM GMT every Sunday!
Have a great week! 🙌