If I say that most people and myself do not have failures, would you believe me? Well, I must be kidding to say that I never have failures. But, what are those failures? Who determines our failures? How do we qualify the failures, and what’s more important failure or success?
I started my YouTube channel two months ago and my ten-year-old girl wanted to start her feed too. Reluctantly, I allowed it but with many conditions outlined for her. Today she has about 12 videos and her highest feed captured more than 2.5K views whereas, mine to date has less than 50 views having uploaded 6 videos. Well, I failed to capture more traction than her, so do I feel disappointed, of course not instead I am proud of her. But, do I regard myself as a failure?
Similarly, who is to regard us as failures? In an organization, there is a performance review that has to be done every year. This is a mandatory process that everyone in the organization has to go through. If you are responsible for a business unit, you will have to appraise the performance of your team members, and this assessment will be calibrated with the assessments of other business units. Most organizations use the bell-curve appraisal system to categorize employees based on their performance. Then the system segregates employees into a bell-shaped graph and categorizes them into high achievers (10-20%), average performers (70-80%), and low performers (10-20%). The categorization is based on the company’s performance standards or leniency to reward the employees.
I believe that the bell-curve method creates unnecessary bureaucracy, and unhealthy competition, and discourages teamwork and collaboration. I had a team member who I felt deserved to be in the average performer cluster but was instead placed in the low-performer cluster to meet a quota during the final calibration. I appealed for her, but it was too late as the process had already been calibrated. The justification for placing her in the lower performer cluster seemed subjective, and I questioned why she was considered a failure unfortunately, I did not receive any answer to it.
So, how do we determine failures?
Do you believe that our failures are caused by our actions? I think that our perception of success or failure is often influenced by our mindset, beliefs, and interpretations. For instance, I might consider myself a failure for having less audience engagement than my daughter on our YouTube channel, but that perception is subjective and may not necessarily reflect reality.
Furthermore, it’s our mindset that determines how we perceive failure and how our beliefs shape our thought processes. Failure is also our self-perception and interpretation which is often a subjective interpretation of the outcome.
As for myself, I was never a writer. I am more of an IT business process strategist and my focus is on digital transformation and the gig landscape. When I first started writing two years ago, I began writing without a clear direction in mind. My primary goal then was to share my thoughts and ideas.
But today, I can safely say that I am not a failure as since then I have captured three publishers from my writing. I further secured deals from what I have written. While I may not achieve what I hope for, it is a significant milestone for me.
Will you encounter failures in the gig landscape?
You may and may not as your success or failure in the gig landscape is determined solely by yourself. Perhaps, what I can do here is to share three crucial fundamentals that can help determine your success in the gig landscape.
- Your Financial and Well-Being ~ it’s important to keep in mind that becoming a gig worker is all about you and your income goals. Thus, it is crucial to evaluate the minimum income you need to generate to achieve a certain quality of life. While I may not earn what I used to when I worked in corporate, I do not consider that as the sole measurement of my success.
- Your Flexibility and Autonomy ~ I always say that gig work is about your needs that is your passion, your interest, flexibility, and your autonomy. Once you determine that, you need to find a way to translate your niche, and your values to meet those purposes. Today, I am satisfied with what I am doing as I found my passion, flexibility, and autonomy to do what I like to do best.
- Your Skill Acquisition ~ I didn’t realize I had acquired new skills when I embarked on this journey. As I said, I was never a writer but I managed to write more than 50 articles over the last 2 years. It’s a major milestone for me and today I can confidently write more than 1200 words easily and this is required by one of my publishers. Ultimately, like what I wrote in my previous article. Today it is about pre-skilling as the lifespan of current skills and expertise is shrinking.
Over the year, as I reflect on my accomplishments, I realize I have not achieved my goal this year as I know I have not placed a lot of effort to do it. Nevertheless, this is not the end of my journey and the new year will give me a fresh start and can be a great time for reflection, goal-setting, and perhaps new opportunities.
At the end of the day, success for gig workers is essentially about yourself. As you walk into this journey, you will need to define your criteria for success based on your unique circumstances and goals. Perhaps, regular self-assessment and reflection can help you to adjust your approach and goals as needed. You will never be a failure. As Thomas A. Edison quoted “I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work“!.
Before I end this article, As the year comes to a close, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the 300th platform and all the readers who have engaged with my content. The digital transformation has opened up incredible opportunities for individuals like us from across the globe, allowing us to showcase our unique skills and share our passions.
Being a part of the gig landscape has been a fulfilling journey, and I am excited about the possibilities that the future holds. I appreciate the platform for providing a space where we can connect, learn, and grow together.
I look forward to contributing more in the coming year, and I am open to any suggestions or requests from readers. If there’s a particular topic you’d like me to explore or if you have specific services in mind, please feel free to share your thoughts. Your feedback is valuable, and I’m here to help in any way I can.
Lastly, I wish everyone a wonderful year ahead filled with success, growth, and meaningful connections. Thank you for being a part of my writing journey, and I can’t wait to continue sharing and learning together in the upcoming year. And by the way, support us by subscribing or following us to keep us encouraged and inspire us to continue and hope to produce more quality content.
