Celebrating Failure

Many of the times in this class that I have failed to get assignments done revolved around interviewing strangers about various products. I have no problem meeting new people, but I still find it hard to go up to even one person, much less five people, to talk to them about a product or idea I have. I find it awkward for both me and the person I'm interviewing. I also feel bad about taking up some of the person's time. I think I only completed a few exercises involving interviewing potential customers throughout the semester.

I learned from this failure to, first, manage my time better. Sometimes I wouldn't interview people because I felt I was under too much of a time crunch. Additionally, I learned that I need to look ahead at assignments instead of waiting until the last minute. Finally, I learned that I just need to commit to interviewing people and see it as a necessary part of perfecting my idea, and that people are more likely to be helpful than not.

I really hate to fail. I think especially now, with technology like Facebook or Instagram, failure can be especially hard to deal with. Scrolling through your news feed, it seems like everyone is succeeding and you're the only one failing. Usually when I fail, I take some time after to work on improving some aspect of myself, whether that be reading more books, finding a new hobby, or trying some healthier recipes. I think this helps, since you know that even if you failed at one aspect in your life, you're succeeding in another. This class hasn't really changed my perspective on failure, though I may be slightly more inclined to take small risks.