As a Virtual Assistant, I’ve crashed and burned countless of times throughout my career. I was rather surprised when I learned that this “phenomenon” is something that is rather common to a good majority of Virtual Assistants. In fact, I later learned that this is a pattern that also exists in Western freelancers and other people who work from home. Is it the lack of social interaction? The lack of external, visible structure? The lack of external checks and balances like bosses who are physically present? The lack of a physical presence of accountability in general? I’m not really sure yet. But one thing I do notice in Filipino Virtual Assistants is that most of us either tend to just disappear, or go AWOL, because we’re so ashamed that we let our boss/es down. Basically, I could trace that feeling to FEAR. Fear of facing how disappointed your boss is in you. Fear of coming face to face with the fact that you’ve failed, in more ways than one. Fear that says, “How am I supposed to climb out of this ditch, now?” Fear of a whole slew of possibilities. Fear, which, 90% of that, are just not true. So, as a Virtual Assistant who wants to overcome that, how do you deal?
1. Recognize that you’ve failed, apologize and propose solutions as to how you can wrap up. Sure, your client or your boss may want to fire you ASAP. Face that fact and man (woman) up. But at least you were man or woman enough to face the music.
2. When you know that you’ve come to the end of the line of a professional relationship, recognize that and plan how you’re supposed to pick yourself up and move on. This is why I was reading Necessary Endings: I was in a well-paying VA setup when I decided that I was no longer happy and wanted to nuke my professional relationships en masse. I was happy about my decision, but I also paid the price. To be honest, I have yet to fully recover from it, but at least, I’m a whole lot less stressed than I used to be.
3. Learn from your mistake and keep working on being better. I was going to add, “Even if you die trying.” Though, realistically, when you’re dying from the setup, I think it’s a big sign for you to try another field. Maybe being a VA really isn’t your “calling,” you know?
One thing I learned is that putting food on the table isn’t really the be-all and end-all of life. There’s more to life than existing. Some people have an urge to make an impact in their lifetime. Others would be happy to just live a happy life. And yet others would be greatest in roles that support people who are making waves. Donald Trump would be helpless without his Executive Assistant, I would bet. But whatever your calling is, don’t let fear petrify you. There are 365 days in a year, and you have 80 years at best or on average. If we have 40 working or productive years in our 80-year lifetimes, then we’ll have 14,600 days that are made new each morning. These are 14,600 days to get it right, starting Age 20. If you’re like me, who’s realizing these things at Age 30, then you have 10,950 days, 10,950 chances to get things right. Keep trying. And yes, even if you need to change careers, don’t let fear keep you from trying to get it right, till your last breath. 
That’s all that matters, really.
