We all know what mistakes are, but for me, mistakes are like the portals of discovery where we keep the lessons learnt for the betterment of ourselves.
We are all human and human beings are imperfect. We are fallible. No matter how hard we try, how wise and experienced we are, or how often we practise, no one can escape the fact that sometimes, we fail. We all make mistakes. What sets the winners from the losers is how they handle setbacks. Do we get upset? Do we go into denial? Do we make ourselves feel so bad that it becomes harder and harder to leave the ground each time we fall?
Mistakes are not necessarily bad, meaningless or useless. They are a crucial element in our path of knowledge and improvement. The more mistakes you make, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you grow, and the more likely you’ll be able to shine brighter in future.
When you were a young growing child, how were you supposed to know the oven was hot? Even with your parent’s warning, “It’s Hot”. But what is Hot to you? How do you know? It’s either when you touch it, or better, your siblings did. Only than you know what is Hot. Or that when you say something impolite you’ll hurt someone’s feelings? If you make a mistake, at least you made a valiant attempt. At least you wouldn’t be stuck in that limbo of not knowing whether you would succeed or not.
Very often, we take mistakes far too seriously. So you made a mistake, so what? The world keeps turning, and the bugs keep biting. It’s not a question of “I made a mistake, I’m so sorry, I was such a fool”. Rather, it’s a question of “Ok, I messed up. What am I going to do about it? How can I avoid making the same mistake again?”
The best leaders out there are the ones who made the most mistakes but learnt from them. The ones that never discovered or acknowledged their faux pas never made it into the business world and never made a difference in their own life, or the world.
We all fail. But only a handful truly learns from their mistakes or even better, other’s mistakes. And these are the ones who will eventually go on to achieve great success and wisdom.
To conclude, I would like to quote:
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
Elbert Hubbard
US author (1856 – 1915)
Collin's Health Corner 