Use this simple tool to take the sting out of failure

✅ Today’s tip: Track your professional setbacks in a spreadsheet.

Learning from the past is a lot easier if you have it all laid out in front of you. That’s why the writer Julia Pugachevsky keeps a spreadsheet of all her rejected story ideas: “Understanding where my energy goes (and when it pays off) is invaluable knowledge,” she writes, and “having a log of all my old ideas is actually incredibly useful information. I see the rookie mistakes I used to make, like not doing my research on an outlet and pitching too hastily.”

Keeping a reminder of your failures may sound cringe-inducing, but as Pugachevsky notes, it actually takes the sting out: On a spreadsheet, each stumble is nothing more than a neutral data point. And when the emotional weight of a moment is stripped away, you can start to glean the lessons it has to offer.

📚 More from Forge on out-of-the-box spreadsheets:

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