I joined Kinsley ‘Trigger’ Jordan and his “Fail Fast Friday” episode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtCOWNfkj5Y) to talk about failure and how to rebound from setbacks.  We all have stumbled in our personal and professional lives.  The difference between those who get up and move forward versus those who never recover is often mental.  As a commander in combat, I watched firsthand how men and women managed the most stressful period of their professional lives.  There are lots of cliches about getting back up when you trip, picking yourself up from the ground and moving on.  I know there is no Silver Bullet solution that works for everyone, but I do know that there is a difference between those who manage that recovery and succeed and those who are haunted by their failures.

I contend that anyone who has not had failures to overcome in their upbringing and professional development will not have found the strength inside themselves to succeed when the pressure is really on.  I sent fighter pilots home from combat because they could not perform in wartime and could not recover from their mistakes.  Throughout the many stages of pilot training, I have seen time and time again people stumble and not be able to recover mentally to rid themselves of the emotional baggage to then move on.  I flew single seat fighters for the vast majority of my 40 years as a fighter pilot and say often that there is:

“no room in that cockpit for two of us”

…no room for my emotional baggage in there along with the ‘present me’.

Great talk with Trigger Jordan about succeeding after failure.  I look forward to your comments.

https://youtu.be/dtCOWNfkj5Y