Failure happens. And it’s okay to let yourself feel disappointment about it. I’ve failed quite a bit over the last 20 years of my career. More times than I’d care to admit here in this post. A few of those failures really stick out in my mind because of sheer embarrassment - how I handled it, or what I could’ve done to make the outcome just a little better. Not just for myself, but for the others involved. Truthfully, I often find myself dwelling on those long-gone moments with regret. If only I could go back in time and try something else. I wish I would’ve. I wish I could’ve. I wish I did.
But that’s what regret is: wishing you could apply the knowledge and experience you have today to a situation that is in the past. Had you known then what you know now …
Failure sucks, but from failure comes growth. And the more you fail, the easier it is to recognize the indicators of failure before it actually happens. It seems odd to think about it that way, that failing a lot will eventually lead to fewer and fewer failures, but I think it’s true. Fail today, win tomorrow.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. You can break out of the cycle of insanity by not focusing on the result you’re trying to achieve, but what you are doing to achieve it. Focus on the process - learn to love it, and separate it from the goal. You can’t afford to be blinded by the goal when there’s so much work to do to get there.
When you’re focused on the process, and more in-tune with your intuitions as it relates to the work - and when you’ve got years of failure experiences under your belt - you’ll recognize what you need to do (or not do) to make each part of the process a success. Listen to your gut, and validate your decisions against past mistakes. Recognize the signs of becoming derailed and lean on your experience to give you the confidence to try something different and get back on track.
Instead of knowing then what you know now, you know now what you learned then.