Mourn and Move On
Recover from failure, restore self-belief, and take another informed swing
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
Galloway describes resilience as the ability to mourn a failure, restore a realistic sense of personal value, and make another attempt. He does not present confidence as denial: closing a company can be humiliating, and grief should be allowed. Recovery may require people who care about you, exercise, and other stabilising practices. The next move is to separate the outcome from a permanent identity, recognise the role of luck, identify what remains valuable in your skills and character, and step back into the arena with a better-informed attempt. His baseball metaphor is to improve the swing and fitness while accepting that much remains outside one's control. The method is repetition with learning, not blind persistence; another attempt should follow reflection rather than recreate the same avoidable failure.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO
Core principles
- 01Failure deserves grief without becoming a permanent identity
- 02Outcomes contain luck as well as effort
- 03Self-belief can be rebuilt with evidence and support
- 04Repeated high-quality attempts improve exposure to opportunity
- 05A new attempt should carry lessons from the previous one
How to run it
- 1
Acknowledge the hit
Describe what failed, what was lost, and why it hurts. Give the event enough space that optimism does not become avoidance.
Pro tip Use plain factual language before interpreting what the event means about you.
Watch out Do not force a quick recovery to satisfy someone else's timeline.
- 2
Stabilise the person
Lean on trustworthy people and routines that support physical and emotional functioning. Galloway specifically mentions being around people who care and exercising.
Pro tip Keep the recovery actions simple enough to do on a difficult day.
Watch out Seek qualified help when distress is severe, persistent, or unsafe.
- 3
Separate event from identity
Recognise that the outcome contains circumstances and luck as well as personal choices. Restate the value you can still offer without pretending no mistakes occurred.
Pro tip List evidence of capability that survived the loss.
Watch out Self-forgiveness should not erase accountability.
- 4
Extract the lesson
Identify the controllable decision or skill that would improve the next attempt. Leave uncontrollable factors outside the action plan.
Pro tip Choose one change that can be observed in the next attempt.
Watch out Do not invent a tidy lesson when evidence is still unclear.
- 5
Take another swing
When sufficiently recovered, pursue another suitable opportunity with the lesson applied. Judge yourself partly by the quality and number of informed attempts, not only by one result.
Pro tip Start with the smallest meaningful return to action.
Watch out Persistence is not a reason to repeat a venture whose underlying case remains broken.
In the wild
Galloway recounts businesses that failed or went through restructuring. After the public humiliation of telling investors a company was shutting down, he says he mourned, restored his belief that he could add value, and raised money for another attempt.
→ A failed venture became one result in a longer series rather than the end of his entrepreneurial career.
Galloway advises the host to stay humble during success and forgiving during failure because neither outcome is entirely self-created. The same attribution rule prevents triumph from becoming arrogance and loss from becoming total self-condemnation.
→ Identity becomes less volatile than the latest external result.
Common mistakes
Pretending the loss did not hurt
Skipping mourning can turn resilience into emotional avoidance rather than genuine recovery.
Making failure the identity
A failed venture or rejection is an event and source of evidence, not proof of permanent worthlessness.
Repeating without learning
More attempts help only when controllable lessons improve the next swing or the opportunity itself remains sound.
Is it for you?
Best for
Entrepreneurs and professionals processing a failed company, rejection, job loss, investment loss, or another identity-threatening setback.
Not ideal for
It is not a substitute for grief care, crisis support, medical treatment, or a careful decision to stop repeating a harmful pattern.
From the transcript
“I mourn and I get up and I go try and raise money again and start another company.”
“You just want to step up to the plate as many times as possible.”
“When you fail, and I failed a lot, realize a lot of that isn't your fault, too.”
From the episode
Scott Galloway: AI Wasn’t Built For You. The Rich Don’t Need You Anymore!