Have you heard of the CV of failures? It's a list of all the things you did not achieve. Like rejected grants or funding application, dream jobs you didn't get, ideas that failed. Seeing these failures more often helps normalize failure.
Or said differently: If famous and successful people failed, then I can't be that bad 😁
I'm not famous or successful according to any standards, but here are some of my failures (and what I learned from them)
- Didn't get the high-paying consulting job --> need to learn to better communicate my expertise to people in a different industry
- Nobody was interested in my team dashboard --> Just building something isn't enough
- I nearly crashed into a buoy on my 4th day on a boat --> Don't just focus on one thing, but look around you (figuratively and literally)
- I can't recall the number of times I saw on the kitchen floor and cried from exhausting (background: I'm a widow with 4 kids who likes to take them hiking & camping) --> take breaks
- I couldn't get my favorite study published --> my writing isn't clear
Now to you. What are your failures and what did you learn?