Learning from mistakes and failures

A top-notch student till class 12, my academic performance and attendance records dwindled when I stepped out of my home and joined college. Living away from family for the first time led to some reckless (mis)use of my freedom and when my placement season came, I worried about how my grades would affect my chances of securing a good job. Thankfully with some perseverance, I received a job offer from a global strategic consulting firm.

My first job turned out to be engaging and exciting and gave me the opportunity to learn a lot in a short span of time. My colleagues and seniors were impressed with my performance. Then came the day, around two months into the job, when I ended up submitting a wrong analysis without double-checking. The mistake was caught by the client and I was called in to justify. While I rectified it, I felt terrible about committing a blunder for the first time in my professional career. On the way, I have made several mistakes, including one that led to a huge monetary loss. I made up for it on another occasion, when I helped the organization save much more.

Every crucial mistake has left some learning under my belt and has shaped me. To be honest, I have no regrets about my grades and my errors at work, because they have helped me to grow, experiment, become stronger and learn to take failure in my stride. People will judge you and berate you when you flounder, but they make mistakes too. What is important is to put criticism behind you and enjoy the journey ahead.

(This blog was penned by Visham Goel from our category team at ClearTax.)