Futures after Failure

Let's speak directly. This theme is the most personal of all futures themes for me.

"I would kill myself if I had failed so miserably"

These words were spoken to me about ten years ago, following the bankruptcy of my company. I had not been considering it, but after these worlds, it was difficult to let go of the thought. Don´t get me wrong, I was not about to do that, but frankly, at the time, I had no idea what else to do either.

Futures after failure is a futures theme and discussion about reinventing futures after absolute failure. The kind that guts you. The kind that leaves you staring into the mirror, wondering who the hell you are and how you got here.

I know that people love to throw around well-intentioned lines like “Failure is a stepping stone to success” or “Every failure is a lesson.”  But what if you’re face-down on the floor with no clue how to stand up again, let alone trust yourself in finding a new direction?

Futures after Failure is not a motivational sugarcoat.

It’s a brutally honest, but forward-looking conversation for people who have been through it. Or are just about to find out they might be landing there.

It’s a space for those who’ve lost more than a job or opportunity. It´s for people who’ve lost almost everything: trust, confidence, self-reliance, freedom, relationships, direction, reputation… maybe even themselves, and certainly the futures they had imagined of living.

And even in this, we can and have to work with what we´ve got. But we´ve got a lot more than we usually notice in our times of despair. All the solutions we need are found within ourselves and in those futures that are about to unfold for us.

The past partly shapes the future; we can not shake it all off.  Still, the majority of it depends on what you do next.

Reinvention of Futures after Failure is not only about what, it is mostly about how. The "who" is clear. It needs to be you.

Reinventing Futures after Failure is not a quick fix.

It collects inspiration and motivation from the future, takes a serious look at the past to reframe experiences, and proceeds to a creative and enriching phase of experimentation and action. Believe me, it´s going to take time and iteration, but I promise it will improve your futures each time around. The most rewarding thing is that it will start changing your life and perspectives from the very first step you take.

This process guides you towards the reinvented version of yourself. Not back to who you were, but who you will become

Failure will not be the end of your story.

It might just be the moment when you truly start appreciating yourself and begin designing your future on your terms, accepting yourself as you are, facing the responsibilities that your past failures have caused, but not letting them bury your spirit or future.

Your Futures opportunities, even and especially after Failure, are too precious to be left unrecognised.