‼️ Here's the brutal truth. Failure is inevitable. ‼️

Yesterday I promised my stories...the shocked face is how it felt.

How do you move on afterwards? It isn't easy.

We've all had professional setbacks.

Heck, we read about the most public ones in the news. That person, like me, has to face themselves in the mirror the next day.

Celebrities, politicians, titans of business fail spectacularly in front of the whole world. Mine were more private so at least there's that!

DON'T COME INTO WORK

Those were the first words I heard after picking up the phone. Maybe not the first words but that's what I remember.

Management was being replaced. Employees were told not to speak to any of the leadership team which apparently included me.

One day I had a terrific job, a position I thought I'd stay at the rest of my working life and the next day - nothing.

When a certain tech billionaire decided to make a change, a bunch of people in suits showed up, locked our offices and confiscated everything.

I wasn't able to access anything with the company's name on it. I was lucky that much of my work was on my personal computer at home.

It was shocking. And depressing. It had nothing to do with me personally. Even so...

But that's not the worst part.

Although I deeply mourned the loss of that job, my husband convinced me to strike out on my own. Make magic for yourself, he said.

So I did research, found something terrific, spent months developing it and then, used every contact we had to pitch it. First timer's luck I guess - a big entertainment company was interested in the idea.

The good news: they moved quickly to make a deal.

The bad news: I didn't protect my own work.

Enthusiasm, excitement and trust got the better of me.

I made a handshake deal with my "partners" on the project, expecting there would be time to finalize details later. But, when a giant expresses interest in a small entertainment property, it provides leverage which my partners used to sign a deal with someone else - more established, higher profile...you get the picture.

Did I get paid for my idea and work? Yes.

Did I participate in the larger and more lucrative deal? No.

The bad news: failure on a more spectacular and personal scale.

The good news: I learned a big lesson and also realized if I did it once, I could do it again.

Ideas are everywhere. And, I'm a big idea person.

My LinkedIn headline says it all: I transform ideas into experiences.

Those two setbacks led me to develop a few other entertainment properties which led to an introduction which connected me to event production on a grander scale.

Over the years, I've used my skills and creativity in new and different ways. I'll always write, develop, create and produce things.

So, James Clear is correct. Keep making shots on goal. But it's also ok to play different games.

#personaldevelopment#careers#careersuccess#storytelling