I need to confess something to you: I have failed.
More times than I would like to count, I have failed. I have failed to be my best, failed to leave personal issues at my speech room door, failed to educate a family adequately, failed to engage my clients, failed to take adequate data, failed to complete paperwork on time, failed at many things. If you are reading this, I hope you have failed too. (Spoiler Alert: You have failed!) That may sound like a terrible thing to say, but I promise that it is not.
Failure is one of the most important learning tools you will ever encounter.
When I was in my CFY I expected that I should know everything and was extremely hard on myself when I made mistakes or didn’t know an answer. What did all of those letters after my name mean if I didn’t know how to do everything perfectly? Failure scared me and made me feel insecure. Thankfully, as I have continued in this career, and in life, my outlook on mistakes and failure has changed drastically. I found out that mistakes didn’t mean the end of the world. Nothing exploded… or imploded.
I learned from my failures.
Every time I fail, I learn. I learn new techniques, new approaches, new facts, new methods, and more. And that makes me a better SLP. Did you catch that? Failure makes me better. We are often so afraid of failure, of mistakes, of anything less-than-perfect that we don’t take risks.
I get it, we don’t like to look ridiculous or uninformed or unworthy of those 8 letters behind our name. But, you must take risks, it’s an important part of our lives. Nothing incredible can come without risks – even the tiniest of risks!
Risk a new technique. Risk acting silly. Risk becoming “too” invested. Risk a different approach, a new activity, a parent phone call, and changing “how you’ve always done things”. You might fail enormously. Or you might succeed enormously. Either way, you’ll learn an incredible amount about yourself and your strengths, weaknesses, and techniques. You’ll be better prepared for the next situation and a better SLP.
We all have days that we count as failures. Days like those are only a true failure if we refuse to learn from them.
So, what are the best failures teachers you have had?
A great point! I have learned the most from my various failures, rather than the successes, and they have made me a better SLP!
So true!
I sooo needed to read this. I just finished conferencing after an observation and talked with the AP about how embarrassed I was that this was my 20th year of teaching and what a failure that lesson was. However, it gave me the opportunity to reflect and see what I need to do differently with this group of kids. I will also get to observe someone that has figured out how to effectively teach guided math which I have had trouble with my first graders doing. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for this! I’m currently in my CF and I’m always getting mad at myself because I feel like I’m not doing the best for my kids when I make mistakes. I’m beginning to accept that I’m giving them the best SLP that I can be right now. It’s just tough. Thank you again.
I’ve had many “teachers” and I’m sure I will continue to have more. It is all in the attitude you have coming out of those situations. Thank you for the post!
Thanks SO much for this! I am a perfectionist…this year, I’m with a NEW contracting company, in a NEW district, and in a NEW school than before (also, elementary vs. high school), so I feel like I’ve had many “teachers” this year! Things are coming along, but I definitely have days where I feel inadequate and lose my confidence in my clinical skills. I’m finally starting to feel more competent, but only after several failures/shortcomings. I just have to remember why I’m here, and that each failure takes me a step further if I let it. 🙂
I think that all of us need to remember this-especially the younger clinicians just coming in to the field. I had the opportunity to supervise some graduate clinicians last year and I couldn’t believe how they were so concerned about being perfect. That just can’t happen in the real world! Every great idea came out of solving some sort of problem or realizing a mistake.
Love this! Thanks for the reminder that it is OK to mess up!