What failing at school taught me about being an entrepreneur?
I was a total nightmare at school – academically speaking. I left school with 3 0′ levels (for those from other education systems that means I failed 5 out of 8 subjects I studied for more than ten years).
“Could do better” was on every report – but I needed to know how to BE better. I was intelligent enough (I later got a distinction in my Masters’ degree).
So why did I struggle so much?
- I had no concept of what mindset was
- I had no sense of purpose
- I was not interested in the subjects and had no vision for my future
- I did not know how to ask for help – I just thought that I had to get through it alone
- I had limited self-awareness and hated feedback
- I thought it was okay to struggle
- I did not know there were other ways to be
- I did not focus on my strengths
- I learn through experience, not through theory
- There was no opportunity to try and fail at school
- I had very low resilience
- I had low competence, low confidence, and wasn’t very committed
- I did not bounce back from mistakes
- I had no self-agency
- I was not empowered to make good choices for myself (or I did not empower myself)
- I compared myself to others and felt daunted by their success