Failing and moving forward

Several weeks ago, I read a Substack post from a good friend of mine, data journalist Miguel Roca. The post began with the following line:

"I have failed, and I am not afraid to admit it."

That line resonated with me. I've worked in journalism, data and the media industry for over 13 years. My career has had some huge highs and some serious lows, but what has kept me going is the ability to face failure head on and overcome it.

The past week, I've had a nagging doubt in my mind, which is:

Will I ever work in the media or journalism industries again? Will I ever work in data again? Am I doomed to be a failure?

If anything, five burnouts in the space of three years has given me a huge wake up call to change how I work and live, as well as approaching failure. You cannot maintain a solid work ethic unless you address how you deal with tough situations.

The turning point

The past two weeks in my own words have been a "disaster". Self doubt and feeling overwhelmed has put me into a dark place where I was happy externally, but internally, I was scared and terrified.

Starting a data storytelling consultancy while I was still processing other stuff that was going on was the wrong thing to do. I stayed busy for the sake of being busy and failed to give myself time to process things rather than move on to the next thing.

One hour-long drive later gave me time to think and reflect on how I work and approach things. Throughout my life, I've always given full commitment to everything I do. Being enthusiastic and hardworking are good qualities to have, but I was moving from one job to another, without giving myself time to breathe.

That was until I told myself to "stop". I was going to burn out again, so taking a step back was vital for my health and wellbeing. Pushing through discomfort is good for building resilience but if you are really struggling, its best to stop whatever you are doing and relax.

Failure can be a lesson for the future

Learning from failure is good for identifying any points where you could have done things differently.

From experience, the best lessons I learned from failing were when I slowed down and had time to think. That thinking time allowed me to look at how I could change my ways of working or approaching situations. Right now, there are two things I'm working on. Slowing down and giving myself time to switch off.

Being a self-employed data storyteller, journalist and content specialist, switching off is impossible. However, I need to give myself a hard cut-off time to ensure I have time to recover and enjoy myself. One way of doing it is to avoid going on my laptop or phone past 6:00pm unless I have a genuine reason to do so.

Also, slowing down is something I struggle with myself. Working in a fast-paced environment such as the media and journalism industries, you are always on the entire day. You go from one job to another without stepping back and recognising what you've achieved from a project and campaign viewpoint.

Failure can be a positive thing if you are willing to address feedback from others and use it to change many aspects of your life.

Don't suffer in silence

For a while, I would bottle things up until everything came out. I still struggle to talk about things with others but I'm getting better at talking about my struggles and challenges. Writing and creating content gives me an outlet to express myself when I would find it hard to do it verbally.

If there's something I've learned in my decade-plus career in media, data and journalism, that is to never give up and to always move forward. Sometimes, things don't work out or you've made mistakes, but you should never ever suffer in silence or made to feel you've failed at something.

We all encounter failure in many aspects of life but I'm going to use my past experiences to move me forward.

Wherever my next adventure may take me, whether if its a media or a non-media position, I am going to move forward and become a better human.