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Career failures can feel similar to a bad relationship breakup. Similar to the way that the latter can leave anyone feeling like they’ll never be able to love again, career failures can leave anyone feeling as if they can’t do anything right.

It’s good to take a little bit of time to process it when it’s just happened. However, it’s never good to linger in it for more than about a week and a half. That’s time that could be better spent moving forward with different approaches.

Here are some simple ways to start moving on.

  1. Be patient with new personal and career endeavors.

This is very important. Old habits and methods die hard. Developing new ones is uncharted territory. This is the time for trial and error. It is also the time to decide whether to approach the old endeavor in a new way or to reinvent the wheel.

  1. Once the initial sting is gone, take a look at it with fresh eyes.

It’s not advisable to get compulsive and focus on every little detail of the failure. That only delays progression.

The main ideas are key here. In other words, the point is to get at the core cause of the failure. Only when that has been determined can the best course of action be outlined and then taken.

  1. If someone else experienced a similar failure and has since succeeded, learn from them.

They say that for every little thing one person experiences, there are at least two or three other people on the planet who have experienced the same thing. Today, thanks to the Internet, it is now much easier to find those kindred connections.

The difference with successful people is not how highly productive they are. It’s in the way that they think. The best of the best tend to be those who let their failures inspire them to keep them moving forward. Once they do, they’re often eager to share their experiences with the world.

  1. Acceptance is the last stage.

In this context, acceptance is basically self-forgiveness. It doesn’t mean pride or lack of trust. It simply means letting go of the last of the adverse effects.