Overcoming Career Setbacks: A Personal Journey

Facing challenges and rebuilding personal and professional lives

I lost my father seven years ago this month. But he continues to be my guiding light whenever I face a challenge, personal or professional. His life lessons helped me again when I conducted a mentorship program at CUET's Water Resources Department (https://www.cuet.ac.bd/) a few days ago.

During the sessions, a student posed a poignant question: what can one do in the face of a setback? This question, so deeply rooted in personal and professional growth, brought a flood of memories to my mind. I?composed myself and shared this with her: “Today is my father’s death anniversary. If I tell you my siblings' thoughts sent through a private chat group, perhaps you will find an answer to this question.”

My father faced many setbacks in life, yet we never saw him upset or defeated. Some of those were so hard that most of us would have lost our dignity if we were in his situation. He might have felt lost sometimes, but he never accepted defeat, picking himself up and starting over with strength and grace that inspires us to this day. We remember his face; he was?calm and patient, never too upset about anything, leaving us a life we can learn from whenever we need to. My brother, currently without a job, finds inspiration from his lifelong striving.

After this, there wasn’t much for me to say. The class was enveloped in a profound silence, the weight of my father's story hanging in the air. I think I said something like this, “Have patience, never give up, try again with a new hope. Those who are successful today have gone through several failures before becoming so.”

So, dear readers, never give up. Accept any setback as a challenge, learn from it, improve, and start over in another way. Remember, the only true failure is giving up.