How to Rebound from Failure
By: Daniel P. Smith | Categories: Alumni Achievements
For some, failure proves paralyzing. It compels avoidance and halts the pursuit of promising adventures. Other people, however, use failure as a catalyst for growth. Defeat and struggle become tools for learning, invitations to pursue new endeavors, and opportunities to discover how far we might go.
Resilience expert Sonia Alvarez-Robinson, executive director of Strategic Consulting and head of the Resilience Employee Resource Group at Georgia Tech, champions the latter approach.
“When we work to overcome failure, we open ourselves to so much that can push us forward—a stronger sense of our personal strength, discovering new possibilities, fortifying relationships, and gaining a deeper appreciation for life,” says Alvarez-Robinson, who also leads a five-week “mini-mester” course for Georgia Tech students titled “Resilience Building Strategies: Growing Through What We’re Going Through.”
To bounce back from failure, Alvarez-Robinson suggests using these strategies to fuel recovery and growth:
Employ mindfulness and reprogram defeatist thinking.
“Failure can cause us to beat up on ourselves and go toward negative messaging that harms our self perception,” Alvarez-Robinson says. “Pay attention to the chatter in your mind and remind yourself what you’re good at, proud of, and optimistic about.”
Jotting down positive reflections can help reprogram the mind to focus on positivity, restore confidence, and define steps toward redemption.
Surround yourself with supportive people.
Alongside positive self-talk, Alvarez-Robinson urges people to surround themselves with encouraging, supportive voices when they encounter adversity and struggle.
“This often means re-evaluating who is in your inner circle, setting boundaries, and knowing who you need around you when you’re experiencing moments of failure,” she says. “Even those who love you might not be good for you as you’re facing adversity.”
Control the controllables.
Sometimes, failure is the result of things outside of one’s control. Let those things go, Alvarez-Robinson directs.
“Devote your efforts instead to things you have partial or total control over, like your effort. This is how you can learn and salvage a situation,” she says.
Put failure in its proper perspective.
Quite often, people build failure into something bigger than it is and rush to the worst-case scenario, Alvarez-Robinson says. A failed mid-term exam, though, rarely cripples one’s job prospects. And a divorce doesn’t mean you’ll die alone.
Respond by identifying realistic remedies and outline a path to recovery, so that failure drives positive outcomes—namely progress, learning, and resiliency.
