Failure is not a weakness, rather an indication that you have so much room to grow and an opportunity to improve. I learned this one the hard way. I finished schooling thinking that I’m the best with my craft therefore everything will be just a piece of cake. How arrogant, right?
Every year I receive recognitions and medals since the beginning of my schooling. Then came high school when I continued to get the highest honors in our school. I even become a consistent leader in the classroom and even in the whole campus. College was a bit of a challenge but still not enough to make me realize how little did I know. In short, I get used to being someone who makes the decision, being in control and being on top.
Then reality kicked in. After getting my degree, I started my career as a Junior Software Engineer in one of the biggest cities in the country. I walked in there with my egotistical mindset that I’m the best. The work started and that’s when my arrogance was crashed. Huge walls of unfamiliar topics, stressful tasks, equally gigantic arrogance from teammates, silent-deafening internal competition, cultural shock and more were dropped in front of me at once. Failures over failures were slapped to my face. From not getting the wanted role, not passing certifications multiple times, missed promotions, financial failure, hated lifestyle and so much more. That’s when my misplaced confidence evaporated like smoke until what’s left was self-pity.
But the good thing of draining my arrogance is the opportunity to reflect and humble down. From there I started to focus on what matters most, the things that I want and improving myself to be able to achieve them. So when you feel like being the best person in the room, remember to look at your window, you may be the best in one but surely be the dumbest in another.
And seeing some “I Know Everything” people around, I cannot help but imagine how blinded I’ve been when I was in their shoes. I just hope that they can also see the difference when arrogance is mistakenly treated as confidence. And when it’s payback time, which I’m sure will come, they will still be able to collect themselves piece by piece.
- Nomad Mier