I failed twice this month

and I'm weirdly proud of both

If you had met me thirteen years ago, you wouldn’t be hearing these failure stories from me. I wasn’t comfortable with failure then. I couldn’t talk about it, let alone write about it.

Now I can.

And by the number of years it took me, you can see how slow I was to get friendlier with failure. But I am now.

I recently failed twice.

This post has been sitting in my subconscious for a while. Then I read this quote from James Clear, and I knew I had to write it:

“Trust in yourself is not only built through successful repetitions, but also through failed ones.

When you have worked through failures in the past, you fear them less in the future. You know you can bounce back.

Successful repetitions build competence. Failed repetitions build resilience.”

— James Clear’s Newsletter, March 06, 2026

A few days back, a potential author contacted me. She had a concept for a book she’s writing and asked if I could make visuals for her weekly newsletter—and later for her book.

I said, “Why not? Let me try it out and see how it goes.”

I gave it a fair shot. I read her concept. I researched the topic. I asked questions. I searched for visual references. I sketched a lot of sketches on paper. Finally, I created some digital visuals.

It took me almost two full days to develop just 3-4 visual concepts.

When I shared them with her, they didn’t resonate. She gave me feedback, and I tried again with 2-3 more concepts.

Finally, it didn’t work out.

The earlier me would have been disheartened. But the present me? I cherished the process.

Even though I failed at closing the deal, I personally felt accomplished. When I looked at those visual concepts—ones I made purely out of learning a new topic—I was impressed with what I could visualise.

A few years back, I couldn’t even think of myself as a visual creator. Forget about coming up with new visual ideas on my own.

But when I did it, I felt a personal sense of accomplishment. I gave my 100%. I tried something out of my comfort zone. I moved towards a space where I want to go next—helping authors visualise the core concepts of their books.

Even though we couldn’t find common ground to work together, I found something else. A part of myself that recognises herself as a visual creator.

My second failure happened just recently.

I ran my first two cohorts of Book to Visuals in January. With all the positive reviews, I opened registrations for a March cohort while planning two vacations in February.

Big mistake.

I didn’t get enough sign-ups. With only a few registrations, it didn’t make sense to run it. The bootcamp works best with at least 5-6 people.

So I cancelled.

The old me would have spiralled. “People aren’t interested. I should stop doing this.”

But the present me just took it easy and let it go.

I noticed that I couldn’t promote the bootcamp while I was on vacation. Of course, people didn't sign up because they didn't even know about it.

I opened registrations again for April.

Within days, 50% of the seats were gone. I’ve received real money from real people who want to become visual creators.

If you’ve been thinking about adding visual thinking to your skillset, this is your moment. I’m running my last live cohort of Book to Visuals in April. Half the spots are already gone.

Sometimes we evaluate our success by what’s visible from the outside.

But we fail to notice how failure transforms us from within.

I realise that the more I keep trying, the more I increase the surface area of my luck. So I'll keep trying. That's all I can do.

Take a Little Pause 🌼

What did you recently fail at? What changed inside you because of it?

I’d love to hear about your failure (aka success in trying). 😊

Love my visuals? Now learn how to create them 🌸

I’m running two parallel cohorts of my bootcamp, Book to Visuals: A 4-Week Practice Lab, this April. You’ll learn a step-by-step process to transform what you read and think into simple hand-drawn visuals. We will learn by creating visuals inspired by one common book read by the cohort. No drawing experience needed. This might be my last live cohort.

Live sessions & personalised feedback every week. 10 seats per cohort.
85 Euros for a limited time. Click the button below to register your interest.

People who attended my bootcamp said:

Through Rachna’s bootcamp, I now feel confident that I have the skill of thinking visually and a workflow for turning ideas and concepts into visuals. What surprised me most was how quickly I was able to develop the skill of visual thinking. Anyone wanting to create visuals to enhance their ability to communicate messages will find the bootcamp useful. It’s also a great tool for remembering ideas and concepts you learn about in books (and other sources).

Anfernee Chansamooth, Cultural storyteller, Australia

Read more testimonials

What am I reading? 📖

A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger - If you are someone who wants to learn how to ask better questions, then this book is your answer :)

On Writers and Writing by Margaret Atwood - I haven’t read a single book referred to in this book, but I am still hooked on this book.

Ways to support my creative journey 🎨✨

• Register for my 4-week practice lab to learn how to communicate ideas in simple visuals. Two parallel cohorts in April!

• License my illustrations – Love any of my illustrations? Use it for your brand.

• Hire me to illustrate for your brand, concept or upcoming book.

Take a Little Pause is an illustrated weekly newsletter for anyone navigating the beautiful messiness of building a creative, calm and intentional life. If you’re on a similar journey, subscribe for free or become a paid supporter to support my writing and help bring my dream of publishing a coffee-table book to life. 💛