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I remember a long time ago I applied for a job and … I never heard back.
I applied for another job… rejected.
And for yet another job one of my former colleagues got it.
As I had to deal with disappointment, I found it tough to not give up, to not to question myself. Luckily, I did get myself up after multiple “failures” and kept putting in the reps letting data trump emotion (by the way, I don’t believe in the word “failure”. We learn more from our failures than our successes!)
And after a while I did get a different job that, while I could not see it at the time, was strategically better and ended up changing my career.
Setbacks, disappointment, not meeting expectations. It can be very hard to deal with. We get rejected, ghosted, maybe even ridiculed, and we have to keep believing in ourselves, in spite of what seems the “evidence” that “this might not be for me”.
But here’s the thing. People that do keep at it, no matter what, end at the top. I know this is a cliche, but we’ve seen success story after success story where this has been the case. People were not handed position Y, they had to fight for it. These are people that often came from very humble beginnings.
So, this week we just want you to think about any disappointment you’ve had or might be going through right now and reflect on how it’s affecting your next steps.
And we’d like to ask you: What are you going to do next? Push, learn and grow? Or throw in the towel and give up?
The former will propel you forward, it’s what you can control. The latter is destructive and a downward spiral, getting you nowhere.
A few tips to better cope with this:
- Take a short break. We have to process a lot and sometimes just letting things go for a bit makes all the difference. Even a good night of sleep, a weekend “offline” can totally change your perspective. Related podcast.
- Find an accountability buddy to vent, share ideas and hold you to higher standards. Talk with other people, loneliness exacerbates the problem. Join our Slack community and engage with the great Pytonistas that have joined over the years. Related podcast.
- Reflect on the situation and think about what you’ll do differently next time (because there will be a next time). A great tool is to keep a journal. Some people do it daily and say it greatly helps them reducing overall anxiety, but that daily habit can be hard, so at the very least do it when you’re going through tough times. On the flip side we encourage you to also note down your weekly wins (even “small” ones), this can be tremendously empowering. Related article.
- Give back. Helping others is a great way to be less self centered while still building your portfolio with work you can show for / talk about. Doubts about your work? Externalizing the goal can be very motivating and again you’ll find accountability and other people to collaborate with.
- Drop perfectionism. One setback does not ruin everything. Again, from failure you learn, and you often can still get back on track and finish strong. Often not everything is lost, it’s all about the averages and coming out stronger. Related podcast.
We hope these tips help you better handle setbacks.
– Bob and Julian
As a Python developer it can be tough to go at it alone, especially when disappointment and obstacles inevitably happen (be it with building apps, writing quality code, and finding a dev job or seeking a promotion).
Our PDM community is an incredibly supportive group of people that are often in a similar situation as you. The results people achieve both technically and mindset wise, boosts their confidence and resilience, and lifetime relations form, we’re really thrilled what our program has grown into.
So, if you want to grow your career, better deal with the imposter syndrome we all face as developers, our PDM program is the place to make that life altering change.