Failure resume.

“Failure resume”

Darrell Velegol, PhD

2024feb22

My friend and mentor Dr. Jack Matson loves “the failure resume”. Can you relate to this? The key point is that the opposite of “success” is NOT “failure”. Rather, the opposite of “success” is “not trying” or “not making attempts”. If you’re succeeding too frequently, then perhaps reach higher! And if you’re NOT failing frequently, you’re likely not making enough (big) attempts. You want to that failure resume to contain big ugly flops, to serve as evidence that you took your chance, rather than stand on the sidelines. Maybe you’ve had some examples like this:

- The time you got a letter about getting rejected from a job offer … and you hadn’t even applied!

- The time you gave a talk, and opened with the biggest gaffe you could say!

- The time you got engaged or married, and the relationship failed!

- The time you supported someone, and later saw what poor skills they had!

- The time you decided to improve your health, and the numbers went the wrong way!

- The time you applied for an important position you really wanted, and didn’t even get an interview.

- The time you ran for office, and lost badly.

There are so many more failures you could have! Relationships, school, starting a business, losing your job, and more. The question I ask is, did you give it a try? Did you learn? Will you adapt? If so, then congratulations on your failure!