DEALING WITH FAILURE/REJECTION AS A WRITER

I know this might not be what you want to hear, and it’s definitely not something I enjoy saying, but the reality is that the moment we establish a goal, we expose ourselves to the chance of failure. After all, if our goals were so simple that failure was out of the question, then they would be quite weak goals, wouldn’t you agree?

In an interview with Randy Nelson, a leading executive at Pixar, he shared that when searching for new innovators to join the Pixar team, he doesn’t primarily focus on whether someone has experienced failure in the past. Instead, he emphasizes the importance of how that individual recovers from setbacks.

This perspective is completely logical. After all, everyone makes mistakes from time to time, and if we spend our entire lives trying to avoid failure, we will ultimately miss out on taking valuable risks or tackling challenging endeavors. The next time you encounter a mistake or stumble in some way, don’t waste your valuable energy fretting over what has already occurred. Concentrate on what steps you can take to resolve the issue moving forward.

Someone once mentioned this to me casually, and although I can’t recall who said it, those words have left a significant mark on me. In fact, I write this quote on the inside cover of every new writing notebook I begin, ensuring it’s the first thing I see when I start writing.

Keep in mind: just because something didn’t turn out as you hoped doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Perhaps that project simply wasn’t meant to succeed. Or maybe you need to tackle it from a different angle. Regardless, none of this defines you as a failure. You are not defined by your work. Once you become comfortable with that distinction, you’ll find you can overcome nearly any obstacle.

These perspectives have been instrumental in helping me navigate failure and challenges in my own work, and I truly hope they inspire you too.  Sometimes, all it takes is a spark of motivation to transform a writer’s mindset from “I don’t think I can…” to “Bring it on!”