Or you鈥檝e been doing your own thing, but times are getting tough and it鈥檚 just not working out the way you thought it would.
Maybe the side project you鈥檝e been working on for months and finally launched, just got shot down by everyone you know. You鈥檙e losing motivation and your chances of escaping the 9-5 this year are looking pretty bleak.
Even worse, you鈥檝e been puttering along at the same job, doing alright (but not getting those elusive positive performance reviews), keeping the same title, earning the same salary you鈥檝e been making for the past few years, all while watching the coworkers right next to you move up in the company.
Professional failure can come in many different forms
Trust me, I should know about professional failure.
In my short five-year career since graduating from college, I鈥檝e had five different jobs. I鈥檝e been a staff writer, marketer, freelancer, blogger, and startup founder. I鈥檝e had to move back home with my parents for six months after my second business imploded. I鈥檝e learned first-hand how to lose $6,537 of my hard-earned savings building a product nobody wanted and I鈥檝e tried my hand at getting fired and sued because of a side project.
Through each of my professional failures, here鈥檚 what I鈥檝e learned:
It鈥檚 not the end of the world.
As much as it feels like everything is crashing down around you in the moment, it鈥檒l get better soon.
You鈥檒l get a new job. Discover your calling as a freelancer in the gig economy. Move back out on your own. Find a new side project that gets you motivated again. Live to take another stab at running your own business after getting back on your feet.
In a few months, your professional failure will feel like a distant memory if you accept the failure for what it is, commit to learning from your mistakes, and consciously give yourself permission to move forward.
In a few months, your professional failure will feel like a distant memory if you accept the failure for what it is, commit to learning from your mistakes, and consciously give yourself permission to move forward.
Four ways to overcome professional failure and career setbacks
During these often emotional professional failures, it鈥檚 easy to forget all of the positive things you have to be thankful for.
Your best work, the accomplishments you鈥檙e most proud of, the praise you鈥檝e gotten along the way鈥攁ll now seemingly insignificant in the shadow of your recent failure.
After throwing in the towel on my stagnant business of selling handmade phone cases four years ago, and making the decision to move in with my parents, I was embarrassed. It felt like just yesterday that I鈥檇 been telling my friends all about the new business I was quitting my job to focus on.
Flunking out after just a few months of full-time work felt like something my personal brand would never recover from. I was leaving a great living situation with two of my best friends right on the beach in Southern California to head back home to the central valley. The anxiety I felt over the impending isolation was enough to realize that this situation had to be temporary.
But before I could do anything about making my next move, I had to figure out how I was going to recover from this and what my next decisions should be. As with any breakup, when you lose a job or leave a business, you need closure before fully moving on and opening yourself up to new opportunities. Do I reach out to my last employer and see if they鈥檒l take me back? Should I move to a new city and look for jobs? Maybe apply to a few remote positions to start building my savings back up?
As with any breakup, when you lose a job or leave a business, you need closure before fully moving on and opening yourself up to new opportunities.
Immediately after getting settled at home鈥攂efore applying to jobs, looking for new business opportunities, putting feelers out to my network for freelance work鈥擨 blocked off an entire day (distraction-free) on my calendar to analyze the order of events that led to my professional failure. I wanted to determine exactly why my business wasn鈥檛 working.
While there were several contributors to why my business eventually flopped, my biggest takeaway was that I鈥檇 simply quit my day job too soon鈥攁 lesson that鈥檚 since gone on to be the cornerstone of what I teach other aspiring entrepreneurs. I left my steady paycheck at the first exciting sign of growth before I鈥檇 really figured out how to replicate those first successes. When the momentum flattened out, I hadn鈥檛 planned for several months without the same level of income I鈥檇 gotten used to with my last job, which meant dipping into my savings. That didn鈥檛 last long.
Even if you don鈥檛 reach a life-altering conclusion, challenge yourself to ask difficult questions that probe beneath the surface. If you got fired for underperforming on your sales targets, why were your numbers below expectations? Were the goals set too high? Do you feel like you could鈥檝e utilized your time better? Were the leads coming your way of poor quality? Did you need more training or experience before fully launching into that role? Were you in over your head? Did you have fundamental disagreements with your manager? Maybe you don鈥檛 truly love sales?
Share your failure with others.
Once you鈥檝e done your personal debrief, it鈥檚 time to move forward and put your failure behind you鈥攆orgiving yourself, but not forgetting what you鈥檝e learned. Don鈥檛 hide from it, because it鈥檚 now a part of you.
While it鈥檚 natural in the wake of a professional failure to crawl into bed, stay at home for days, and nurse your wounds until you feel ready to venture back out into the world, carefully limit your time grieving.
The sooner you get out and start sharing your change with others, the better. Sharing doesn鈥檛 have to mean being proud of your mistakes, shouting about it from the rooftops, or seizing every opportunity you have to complain about your current position. However, your friends and acquaintances will play a huge role in giving you much-needed support, feedback, outside opinions, and advice on the best way to move forward.
On top of that, your friends and acquaintances are the best starting points for helping you track down your next job. A study from Stanford University professor Mark Granovetter uncovered that 83 percent of people who landed jobs from within their personal network did so through connections they see on average once a year or less versus from their closest group of friends.
In other words, sharing more broadly to your network on LinkedIn, Facebook, and otherwise, that you鈥檝e moved on from your previous company and are now pursuing new opportunities is likely to result in solid new leads for your next move. Reach out to acquaintances who are in the types of jobs you鈥檇 like to land next, ask for introductions from your existing network and do what you can to plant the seeds for your next move.
Regain your mojo.
It鈥檚 ok to take some downtime鈥攚hether it鈥檚 days, weeks, or months鈥攖o regroup after a professional failure, but start thinking right away about how you can utilize that time to be proactive and start proving you鈥檝e still got what it takes to keep performing. The last question you want to get stumped on in your next interview is explaining how you鈥檝e spent your time off between jobs.
Maybe it鈥檚 time to explore turning one of your hobbies into a new job or consulting practice. You could get started on writing the book you鈥檝e been thinking about for so long. Build an app to demonstrate your skills. Create a portfolio website to showcase all of your best projects over the years.
Getting outside of your comfort zone and meeting new people will also help you regain your confidence. Join a Meetup group for people in your industry, attend networking events, track down people who work at your dream company, and find a way to authentically connect over coffee.
Make your next career move.
Ultimately, you won鈥檛 fully recover from your professional failure until you鈥檝e moved on to your next job, decided to go all out with freelancing, or started a new business.
Leverage your existing connections, build new relationships, start interviewing, and when (if) you鈥檙e asked about your recent professional failure, thoughtfully communicate what you鈥檝e learned and how you鈥檝e taken the initiative to do something positive with that experience.
Highlight any side projects you鈥檝e been working on and communicate the passion you鈥檝e been directing towards them in your down time鈥攅nthusiasm is infectious and a key trait employers look for in new hires. Show people that you can still perform at your best and they鈥檒l begin to believe you have the ability to overcome your failures no matter how great.
Taking on your professional failure in a productive way can teach you more impactful lessons than any of your successes if you give yourself permission to learn and grow from it.
You鈥檝e heard it before: Failure is part of being human. What is not, perhaps, as widely discussed is the upside of failure鈥攖hat our moments of imperfection can actually make us stronger. Listen as Sport and Performance Psychologist Mark Aoyagi shares some useful tips on how to transform crash-and-burn experiences into stepping stones to success.
Ryan Robinson is an entrepreneur and content marketing consultant to the world鈥檚 top experts and growing startups. On his blog, ryrob.com, he teaches over 200,000 monthly readers how to start a profitable side business. Find Ryan on Twitter: @TheRyanRobinson.
