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So You Didn't Win A Vocal Challenge?

Dealing with Disappointment and Learning from Failure

By Laquesha BaileyPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
Top Story - January 2021
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So You Didn't Win A Vocal Challenge?
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

POV. A new Vocal Challenge pops up and you immediately begin thinking about the creative angles you can take to tackle the prompt. You spend a crap ton of time brainstorming ideas, drafting and outlining your story and then you pour yourself into writing. You scour the web for beautiful media, photos and memes and happily add them to your story. Finally, all that's left to do is dot your I's and cross your T's and hit that 'Submit for Review' button. Done. Perfect! You promote the crap out of your story, posting it on Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, you name it! Then, announcement day rings around and...you don't win. You didn't even place.

You're devastated. Or worse, you feel defeated and start to question the point of even entering these challenges in the first place. It's human nature. Maybe you start to compare the merits of your story to the winners of the challenge. Suddenly the story that you were so proud of initially starts feeling like nothing more than a large pile of crap that someone threw in a dumpster and then proceeded to set on fire. It's okay.

Acknowledge and Accept the Way You Feel

Don't push it down. Don't suppress it. Don't convince yourself that you're crazy or that you're overreacting. Maybe you feel disappointment because you expected to win. Maybe it's regret for spending so much of your free time working on your story for no payoff. Maybe it's jealousy towards the winners of the challenge who ultimately will enjoy "your" reward. Maybe it's anger at the judges for not recognizing your genius. Whatever it is, name it, feel it deeply and then let it go. When we confront our difficult emotions and see them just as they are without trying to change or alter them, they cease to have so much control over us. We are able to look at them with a clear mind and with less judgement and criticism. Remember, your thoughts are not facts, they are just thoughts.

Remember Why You Write

Recall that you were a writer before you joined Vocal. While Vocal is an incredible site that allows you to not only share your work but also discover the work of others, your reason for being a writer isn't intrinsically tied to the site. I'm assuming that you don't only write to win challenges. So, why do you write? What motivates you to draft a post? What do you hope that people gain from reading your work? Find your why. Remind yourself of this. Write it down and repeat it to yourself constantly.

Congratulate The Challenge Winners Sincerely and Learn from Them

By this, I don't mean message the Challenge Winners, although you very well could if they're a member of the Vocal Media Creators Hub group on Facebook. I mean, actually take the time to read their story and drop it a like. Pay it forward. This is beneficial for numerous reasons. For one, it fosters a sense of community and helps you to view the winners as real people and not rivals that you're competing against. Their win doesn't mean that you're not talented. It doesn't mean that your story wasn't great. In fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with you. Secondly, it helps you to appreciate the work that they put forth and in doing so, maybe you'll learn more about what the judges expect when adjudicating these challenges.

Try, try again!

My mom always told me growing up "It's better to try and fail than fail to try". Don't frame failure with a defeatist mentality. Look at it as an opportunity to learn, hone your skills and grow from the experience. You didn't win this challenge. So what? Vocal hosts like a million of them every week. Enter another one. And then another one. And then another one after that. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try, try again!

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”

- Denis Waitley

If you liked this post, please don't forget to drop it a like!

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About the Creator

Laquesha Bailey

22 years old literally, about 87 at heart. I write about self care, university life, money, music, books and whatever else that piques my interest.

@laqueshabailey

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