Why Should I Have Focused on Failing More Than Becoming an Overnight Success?

This is something that no one thinks about but comes naturally within me now. For years and years, I have tasted successive success and failure. Be it my personal life, my professional life, my love life, or my life with my pets, aka my children. 

I never thought that I would choose to write on a topic for which I had endless sleepless nights, endless tears, and endless worries with constant health issues. For me, the greatest rock bottom is being unhappy with my professional life, or you could say the “corporate majdoor." 

Success taught me the value of things. Failure taught me resilience, strength, determination, and most importantly, why I deserve a good life at the end of the day. 

Early Career Struggles

If any of you have read my blog, “The Story Behind My Writing Career," you know what overnight success really looks like. From a rash flight to the medical profession, then desperation to become cabin crew, to ultimately choosing English language teaching and becoming an author, I have a plethora of experiences under my belt. I have learned about critical care technology and worked in a reputed medical college in Kolkata. I have learned about aviation, hospitality management, and travel management and got a diploma certificate. Then, I shamelessly and silently did my graduation in English Literature for four years, with delays in between for COVID-19. The fact is life has endless possibilities. It will never change until and unless you do. 

Writing Journey 

My First Email for the Publication in an Anthology as a Co-Author

I became an author and English language trainer on a magical 31st August, 2021, when I applied for both. One submission of becoming a co-author led to my selection, and then it opened portals for multiple anthologies, books, magazines, and blogs. 

The funniest part is, “I wrote poems without knowing how to do so. I wrote stories, articles, blogs, and magazines the same way and won an award for "Kolkata Diaries Volume 3.” On the same day, I won an award for “Poet of the Year” for “Some Unbothered Truths.” 

My life is sorted. There is no looking back until rock bottom hurts my most important thing. 

“My Ego.”

The First Two Awards of Mine

Personal Hardships 

Awards are a way to welcome recognition in your life. It builds your identity and your career. The only thing it welcomed was a flood of criticism for me. My pocket money was stripped away. I lost my pets one after another with a near-death experience of claustrophobia back in 2023 after losing Coco (my only cocker spaniel also known as my husband darling). The migraine was at its peak. I thought that after I published my book, I would become a celebrity. Ha! Ha! The universe has a way of humbling you. It knows how to strip you off from falsity. Marks in my graduation increased and decreased, but my graduation continued anyhow. I did the best I could and got my first division. 

Coco, aka, my husband darling will always be a part of my books

Secretly, I applied for an internship at Ukiyoto, where I learned about how the author can promote themselves online. With my Instagram account private, the Facebook private, no LinkedIn followers, and no marketing, reaching the right audience is a challenge.

First, I learned about websites and built one from scratch. I never knew websites were the ones we searched on Google. I used simple templates. I designed and redesigned for endless hours only to start from zero. I focused on LinkedIn, Instagram public accounts, and building a Facebook page on my own. While doing so, I came across Canva and used its easy-to-use software for my own work. I wrote blogs on my website with shaky fingers, typing on my keyboard. The stories were my own imagination with the power of Maa Durga over my head in October. Sometimes, the readers read my work, and sometimes, the readers' views were fewer; it’s ok as long as I am happy to write and do what is best for them. 

My life was good. I was living in my comfort zone until Adele’s song turned out to be the best to describe my life:

“To be loved and love at the highest count

Means to lose all the things I can't live without."

My Not-So-Famous Professional Struggles 

My desks while working in an office

Divorced and single with no parents and pets, aka my children. Everything felt empty in the end. It still does, to be honest with you. I never chose SEO content writing; it chose me. I never knew how my earlier proactive steps would bring me to such ease in my job life later. I worked, and yes, I left one office after another. My patience level was zero. I will never understand whether the offices were a wrong fit or I was a wrong fit for them, but there are many things I learned so far.

Lesson Learned Along My Professional Life 

• Love the work you do. Don’t tie yourself to a company

• Take care of your mental, physical, and overall well-being. Eat healthy food, do guided meditations, and learn to let go of things you cannot control. 

• Don’t forget yourself in the process of earning money and taking endless family responsibilities. Read books, watch TV series, go out on a drive with friends, and spend time with your loved ones. 

• Office politics will always be a part of a company; how you save yourself matters now. 

• The office does not care about you; they care about their well-being. It is applicable for the rest of the people you meet every second.

• Take an example of three people: X, Y, and Z. X may find your work excellent. Y may find it average. Z may not like your work at all. You cannot please anyone and everyone. What the outside world thinks, feels, and says is not in your control; you can control only what you do. You have nothing to prove to the outside world. 

•  How many times you fail does not matter. What's really important is to carry forward the lessons you learn along the way. 

• You need love to survive. Love yourself so much that it overflows everywhere you go. 

• As long as you are honest and right in your eyes, nothing else matters in the end.

• Don’t just learn; contribute to the world around you in as many ways as possible. 

• Say “thank you” and appreciate every small thing every single day. 

My Recent Update 

My daily ritual spend with my diary

 Back in 2025, I did my career counseling sessions and started therapeutic writing sessions. I believe writing gave me the much-needed personal outlet to share my life and my worries with my diary. I believe that the people in every household, educational institute, and corporation will highly benefit from my sessions. In reality, it did. Therapeutic writing reduces depression, anxiety, and symptoms of heart diseases. However, you need professional mental health experts in case of serious issues. Now, I am focusing more on learning art therapy and finding more ways to make my therapeutic writing better as a life coach. 

The logo of my podcast channel

On the other hand, “Authentic Asks” is reaching more views than expected with little to no marketing at all. The viewers are loving the content despite my mistakes and limitations. The interviews with my guests are healing me in indescribable ways. I believe that your intent to help matters more than your circumstances and situations with uncertainty along the way. 

For me, more than likes, comments, and subscribers, the intent to do better and being able to give all your love to others are what drive me to focus more on solutions now. 

Still learning to swallow the pills of failure and success with grace now

To date, I find failure to be a hard pill to swallow, but it saved me from arrogance, grounded me to the earth, and taught me one thing: "to never give up on myself.” Like everyone, I also wanted to quit everything, but something within me never allowed me. It is the same for everyone. It is obvious to feel bad, but sitting down with it longer than required is what truly makes you a true failure in real life. This is how I am able to respect myself and look at myself in the mirror with a hidden smile.

Finally, I am not the success the world wants me to be nor a failure the world looks down upon. I am moving at my own pace and time with lessons along the way to become nothing to offer other than being a kind human being.