Will Petty

4/8/20

UH 120-011

Reflection Paper #4

Success is what everyone is striving for in every part of life. Each day I wake up

wanting to have a successful day. The problem is that not every day ends up feeling

very successful. Even the days that feel unsuccessful can be beneficial if you view them

in the correct way. Since failure is a part of life, there will be many “unsuccessful” times

in the sense that not everything works out perfectly. Life is not perfect, but those times

of failure can be used to get a little closer to perfection in the future. Something that life

can be about is learning. Failure should always be followed by learning. If you learn

from enough failures, then success may be more easily obtained.

Personally, I view almost everything in life as challenge or a game that I would

like to win. That can be bad because it sets everything up as a win or lose situation.

However, if you keep in mind that losses can happen and that neither success nor

failure defines you, then that mindset can be of great benefit. I do not always remember

that at first, but I do try to look back on events and remember that winning isn’t always

everything. To find peace in this mindset it definitely takes a lot of vulnerability. I believe

that humility is required to have vulnerability. Remembering that you are not perfect and

that mistakes will happen keeps you very grounded.

When you can realize that truth about yourself, then you can turn that outward

and realize that nobody is perfect. Then you find out that the best way to positively

interact with people is to be vulnerable with them. If you pretend to be perfect around
others, you will either become hypocritical or you will push them away because they feel

that they are not good enough. This directly relates to your workplace relationships.

Whether you are a manager or a coworker, being vulnerable to your coworkers will help

you build stronger relationships that will benefit you more in the long run. Having

vulnerability means that others will see that you are not perfect, you do not know

everything, and you cannot accomplish everything without someone’s help. There are

times where others my try to exploit you when you work in this way, but if you are

honest about everything you have done then you should come out on top in the end.

Vulnerability about my failures will definitely help me be successful in my career.

I have already seen positive ways to handle failure from my time at Alabama

Power. Safety is their number one concern there. When failures happen around

electricity, things can get bad quickly. In the past few years, Southern Company has

been working on changing the view of failure. Their strategies are now very similar to

those in the article “Strategies for Learning from a Failure”. When a failure occurs, their

goal is to find out why it happened. They try not to place blame on a person until the

entire situation is investigated. In my career I hope that I can help find that balance

between learning from failure and knowing that accidents can happen. Sometimes an

accident is just an accident, and they will happen because this world is not perfect.

From my perspective, the way you define success is very important. I know that

the typical definition of success in a career is reaching the top of your field. I also know

that if your life is focused on that alone, then it will not be a satisfying life at all.

Hopefully I can always remember that truth in my career. That moves your focus from

the distant future to the present. Success can be defined as doing the best you can with
what you have and having positive impacts on others along the way. When failures

happen, you can get back up, dust yourself off, learn from that situation, and keep

moving forward. If that way of living leads to career success then great, but either way I

believe that it is the more satisfying way to approach life. Vulnerability and humility are

important to practice at home and at work. Realizing that you’re not perfect and that you

don’t have to appear perfect to others allows you to build stronger relationships with

them. Those strong relationships may be the most defining aspect of living a successful

life.