Ask yourself as you reflect on your career or life in general, how have your setbacks shaped you?

There are priceless lessons to be learned from our failures. When you travel along any journey you notice patterns. And as time heals your wounds of rejection or your harboured resentment due to a setback, most times it is evident that a setback benefited you in the long term despite the discomfort it caused during its onset. I could provide a plethora of examples from my life where the trajectory of my career went better than I could have imagined thanks to a few failures. However, many readers most likely have more engaging stories than mine. So instead, I will provide you some insight into the wisdom I have gained from setbacks, what they taught me, how I used them to succeed and how you can leverage these lessons learned for your growth rather than your downfall.

1. Do not blame yourself

Many setbacks are beyond an individual’s control. Could be external economic or social factors, family issues, relationships, financial disruptions or more. It is important to identify the root cause of a setback, forgive yourself if you’re at fault, but don’t let it linger. Learn from it, absorb the emotions and try to bounce back as quickly as possible. Ultimately, the most valuable currency is time, and the more time you spend dwelling on a setback, which is essentially your past, the more time you lose on improving yourself and moving forward.

2. It will all work out eventually

I know in the moment, or if you’re going through a setback currently it may feel like the end of the world. But as cliché as it sounds, I can guarantee you, it does get better. The first step is belief in yourself and trusting that the process of your career is not going to be linear. It is a bumpy road but will make a good story. Reflect on the lessons then create a step-by-step plan on how to recover from this setback. Goal setting works well for moments like this. No matter what you have lost, write everything down. Begin with a list of what you aim to achieve and then write down what you can do today, this week, this month and then this year. This will assist in brainstorming to get yourself back on your feet and back on track without being overwhelmed by the past and the future.

3. Remember that setbacks don’t mean lack of progress

Just because a setback or failure occurred, in no way indicates you are moving backwards in life or your career. The ability to adapt to setbacks and bounce back from challenges is a valuable skill in today’s dynamic work environment. And this setback has actually in one way or another benefited you because you have developed resilience through adversity and hopefully will not go through the same thing again due to invaluable learning that mistakes teach. In the grand scheme of things you will emerge stronger and wiser from these events, and this will make you a better person and operator in the future.

4. Increasing your risk tolerance

Before failures most people might fresh in their career might be susceptible to having high risk aversion. The wisdom that comes from loss and failure is key to giving you thicker skin and thus could provide you with better tools to deal with uncertainty. A lot of success is on the other side of risk and increasing your risk appetite because of your ability to deal with setbacks will actually propel your career forward positively in ways your pre-setback self couldn’t have imagined.

These are a few things I have learned over the years of my studies and my career and I hope you can find some benefit in them. Setbacks actually made me who I am today and the reality is that how will I be the me of today if the me yesterday did not exist? I am grateful for every failure and setback through my rocky academic career moving into trade then into the corporate world later on. It has added a layer of knowledge I could have only gained through experience and risk-taking and I feel better equipped today to tackle projects, problems and conflict in a smarter fashion. Don’t beat yourself up and know that even though you may struggle with milestones in your career, it isn’t halting your progress, you are always moving forward and life goes on. Learn from it, don’t blame yourself, take risks and trust yourself to do good things.

All the best!

H