THE JOY OF MESSING UP
With a sinking heart Jessica knew the job interview wasn’t going well. Midway through her presentation, still foggy headed from staying up with her sick daughter the night before, the political consultant could feel her confidence slipping away. “I managed to keep going even though I knew I hadn’t prepared enough,” she says. “But the next day I was mortified to hear the damning feedback they’d given to the recruitment consultant. They said that while I had the quantity – the years of experience – I lacked the quality. It was really quite cutting.” Her confidence was damaged badly. “I gave up on the job search and stayed in a position I’d outgrown. Even when my boss left and I knew I could easily have done that job, I didn’t go for it.”
Many of us have a failure horror story, be it a relationship rejection or exam blunder, that has the power to make us shiver however long ago it
