Why There Must be Room to Fail

An important aspect of mastering your career and money situation revolves around making room to fail at times.

Take your finances. True, a maxim of legendary investor Warren Buffett is, “Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget Rule No.1”. The thing is, not only can we not all be Warren Buffett, but the man himself also hasn’t consistently been able to keep to this principle. (And it’s all well and good for him to give such advice – he’s a billionaire). Keep in mind, there’s no disgrace in losing money occasionally. Even the best fail at times.

That’s not to say you should set out to take crazy risks. That could lead to silly losses and at worst financial ruin. No, this is about letting go of the curse of perfectionism. And unfortunately being a perfectionist can also be the fast-track to unhappiness.

The trouble is, many individuals are too scared to even engage in any risk at all. They fear that they will lose money. They see hiding money under their bed, leaving their cash on a low-interest deposit account, or simply sticking their head in the sand as a long-term strategy for managing their money. This also goes for your career. Have you stayed in your job for too long? Are you not willing to ask for a promotion in case you get turned down? Have you turned down a promotion because you would have had to change your way of working? You know the story.

Yes, I admit, there are many, many, many times that you have no control over a situation. And taking a “room to fail” approach simply isn’t practical. Responsibilities, circumstances, commitments. I get that. But then there are those that don’t have any obstacles. Those that choose to ignore the signs. You could say they don’t have an excuse for not working on their careers or their finances. Beyond fear or a lack of education, I guess. And procrastination is normal.

But for those that are able to do something about their existence, denial isn’t a sustainable strategy. You can’t build a career or make inroads in your personal finances. You are not going to go far if you stick your head in the sand while all your peers are retraining or upskilling. You’ll be left behind. And the impact of inflation on your purchasing power? That money stuffed in the mattress will ensure you aren’t getting ahead. You may think that you are building wealth this way but actually, you’re not even really standing still using this approach.

The game is to learn how to take calculated risks, risks that are in line with helping you achieve what you want out of life. It doesn’t have to be a complicated strategy or sophisticated version of high finance. Having a simple career plan and investment strategy may suffice. Also, it’s about trying your best to build career assets, in addition to financial ones, in the context of what’s available to you. But doing nothing is not an option. Covid-19 has shown us that.

It Sounds So Easy…

At the same time, it’s also important to find a balance that works for you. One size will not fit all. And your personality may shape different approaches.

You may be a skydiving, adrenaline-junkie individual in your day-to-day life, yet very low risk in the way you look at money. You may love dancing on tables every weekend as you lap up the attention. But you may at the same time have been stuck in the same low-level job at the same grade for over a decade, even though you know you’re better than that.

Allowing yourself to fail occasionally in life can be liberating. It allows you to be less attached to results and more focused on your approach. In other words, it can help you to reframe a disappointing outcome to one that helps you improve your strategy for the future. It’s about being able to think in a more detached way.

And if you don’t allow yourself to lose once in a while, it’s harder for you to learn how to take the necessary risks to move forward in the future. Life happens and you will face challenges (e.g. unexpected job loss at some point). So allow yourself to fail once in a while. It can help you build resilience.