I Learned to Thrive on Failure (How You Can Too)

I've been a branding agency owner for a few years and had my fair share of failures. From failing to land clients, hiring people who did not align with my vision, feeling discouraged, and conquering imposter syndrome, I've learned much about how to bounce back from failure.

So, how did I do it? Here's a secret: I didn't.

I mean, sure, I eventually bounced back. But it wasn't because I followed some formula or did everything right. It was because I kept failing forward.

I failed over and over and over again. And each time I failed, I learned something new. I knew what not to do. I learned what to do differently and eventually, I learned how to succeed. Evolution is a product of failures, and in a society that only rewards success, it may feel otherwise.

But here's the thing: Failure is not the opposite of success. It's part of success.

If you want to be successful, you need to be prepared to fail. You need to be willing to lose, and importantly, you need to learn from your failures.

So, if you're struggling to bounce back from failure, here's my advice:

1. Don't be afraid to fail. It's okay. Everyone fails (they just don't tell you). The important thing is not to let failure stop you, or your setbacks define you.
2. Learn from your failures. Reflect on what went wrong and what you could have done differently. This will help you avoid making the same mistakes in the future. Journaling and keeping track of failures is one way I prevent the same outcome from happening to me.
3. Keep failing. The more you fail, the better you'll get at it and eventually, you'll learn how to succeed.?

To be honest, bouncing back from failure is not easy. As a perfectionist, I believed failure was a sign of weakness. After years of refining my craft and partnering with several businesses, I realized that your best ideas come after your biggest failures. So it's possible to bounce back.?

I struggled to land any clients for 6 months of failed client meetings. Not until I went in 100% prepared was I able to close my agency’s biggest client till date. It felt too seamless, but that was because I had failed for six months prior and learned from it.

Remember, success is not the absence of failure. It's the ability to learn from failure and keep moving forward.

So don't give up. Keep failing and learning until you succeed.

Learn to identify what went wrong and how to do things differently next time.

I'm Gideon, founder of Pixxis Agency , and I am open to connecting. Subscribe to this newsletter as I share more intricate details of my weekly journey of building my agency.