You're facing setbacks in your career journey. How can you turn failure into fuel for growth and success?

Self-awareness is the first step to understanding what you feel and sense. Once you are aware of reality, try to accept it, which is also called surrender. Don't try to push your emotions and feelings away. And learn to get along with them.

Embracing reality is crucial for turning a setback into an opportunity for enhancement. Oftentimes, we look at failure and setbacks through an absolute lens: either we have succeeded or failed. When we do this, we cheat ourselves out of opportunities to celebrate the small successes within the setback. What you thought was a failure and setback may actually be a setup for something bigger and better. Of course, it doesn't feel good in the moment, and we should take time to breathe and navigate our emotions. However, it is essential to dust ourselves off and get back in the game!

Build in feedback processes into all your projects Don’t forget to have a diverse range of peers, managers, leaders and service users and don’t take things personally. Think of the feedback as your growth roadmap. Don’t react or respond straight away if you do feel surprised, upset or let down- sleep on it and reflect again the next day, you will see it differently and take away the lesson you needed.

Sometimes, it is hard to see the path forward when it's crowded with chaos, negative self-talk, feelings of defeat, and unmet expectations. Reaching out to a mentor, colleague, or coach who is removed from the situation can be extremely helpful in providing alternate perspectives on the situation. This individual can help you by listening, identifying actions/inactions that led to the setback, and also identifying the things that went right within the situation.

Nothing is carved in tablets of stone or so bad we can’t reflect, learn and move forwards. For example you didn’t get the promotion you thought was yours, you feel let down and disappointed. But you can speak to the interview panel get feedback and done guidance on what you can do next time to be the stand out candidate. Then use this as your personal development plan, put the work in and be prepared for next time.

Before making a new plan, remember to find your identity first. Ask these questions: - Who am I? - What values and beliefs do I have? - How can I contribute? Self-reflection and journaling can help you understand yourself better. It is essential to know yourself first before adjusting your plans. Otherwise, you might fail again without a clear direction.

Being mindful and meditation could help you build resilience. Once you know yourself better, you will not be bound back so quickly as you have a clear mind map and direction toward your goal. It helps you insist and not give up easily.

If you have ever attended a gym or lifted weights, you may know how uncomfortable it can be to get in shape. It requires discipline, discomfort, and perseverance even when you can't see the immediate results. If you want to sustain and enhance your progress, the cycle continues with increasing the weight or intensity of your workouts. Resilience is your will and commitment to returning to the gym even when the workout gets tough. It's believing in yourself and your ability to succeed because you have receipts to show that you have done it before, whether at the gym or in other aspects of your life. Resilience is knowing that you are getting stronger at the end of the day, even if it's not apparent yet. It's also knowing when to rest.

Remember that you tried and put yourself out there and the knowledge and experience you’ve gained about what does and doesn’t work you can use moving forwards. This mindset will help you greatly think in the present, plan for the future and reflect on the past to propel yourself forward.

Think about where you are now in your life. Even if you are not where you want to be, you are most likely further from where you started. You've made progress! What would have happened if you had given up on the decisions and actions that seemed so hard in the past? Where would you be now? What skills did you use to persist then? Which skills can you use today to persist in your current situation? You got this!

Facing setbacks in your career can be a powerful catalyst for growth and success. Embrace failure as a learning opportunity, analyzing what went wrong and identifying areas for improvement. Use these insights to build resilience, refine your strategies, and enhance your skills. By maintaining a positive mindset and viewing challenges as stepping stones rather than obstacles, you can turn setbacks into valuable experiences that propel you toward greater achievements.

En cualquier proyecto laboral, personal, familiar, etc. nos encontramos con contratiempos. Las estrategias que frecuentemente he implementado son: Análisis de las causas, replantearlas los objetivos, cambio de actividades para logrados en cuanto a recursos materiales humanos, lapsos de tiempo, horas de trabajo. Posteriormente, se realiza otra evaluación con la finalidad de conocer la efectividad de dichas intervenciones y continuar con dicha metodología hasta alcanzar las metas propuestas.