What do you do if your professional failure shakes your confidence and self-esteem?

In the journey of life failure and success goes hand in hand. Failure is a sign that shows we are trying to do something. We have to give yourself the permission to feel what we feel and moving street forward to our goal. When the feeling of being a failure runs in our mind rather than feeling defeated , we have to be the courageous voice that will rise our spirit to victory.

Acknowledge Your Feelings: Allow yourself to acknowledge and process your emotions, whether it's disappointment, frustration, or embarrassment. It's normal to feel upset after a setback, and giving yourself permission to experience these emotions can help you move forward. Gain Perspective: Put the failure into perspective by recognizing that setbacks are temporary and do not define your worth or capabilities as a professional. Remind yourself of your past successes, strengths, and achievements to counteract feelings of self-doubt. Learn from Failure: Embrace failure as an opportunity for learning and growth. Reflect on what went wrong, what you can learn from the experience, and how you can apply these lessons to future endeavors.

It is ok to feel disappointed or embarrassed about personal failure. Those are perfect human emotions that help us learn and develop so we avoid the same mistakes in the future. But don't let them overwhelm you. Instead the best course of action, is to take action and make progress towards a better outcome next time round. You cannot do anything to change the past, but you can channel those emotions to make a different future, and therefore not waste the past failure.

Everyone fails, all the time, in big or small ways. No-one ever got from a crawl to a walk without many failed attempts at standing up. Don't be afraid to acknowledge the failure, as that way people understand that you are genuine and willing to be open and vulnerable. You'll find in most case people will be willing to help you out and offer advice and support.

For anyone interested in learning and improving from their failures, I would recommend reading Matthew Syed's book , "Black box thinking". It will give you a great framework for dissecting and learning from failures.

Me gusta la parte de reconstruir la confianza, hace varios a?os que dejé de trabajar en oficina, aunque soy docente remoto de pensamiento computacional en la actualidad, extra?o bastante el clima de oficina, el trabajar rodeada de compa?eros y compa?eras y jefes. Ojalá en algún momento pueda volver a trabajar en un ambiente así o que logré sentirme así aún trabajando remoto.

After facing a professional setback, I felt my confidence wane. It's a common experience, but not easy. I let myself feel the disappointment, knowing it's part of the process. Analyzing what went wrong helped me learn and grow. Reaching out to mentors and peers for support was invaluable—they reminded me setbacks are stepping stones, not stop signs. I set new, realistic goals, and celebrated small successes along the way. This journey of rebuilding confidence taught me resilience and the importance of perspective. Setbacks aren't failures; they're opportunities to come back stronger. Remember, it's not the setback that defines us, but how we rise from it.