Embrace your mistakes. Do not hide from them. Confess…if you’ve wronged/hurt someone, admit it to them and apologize. If you’ve done something that doesn’t align with your values, try to right your wrong and make sure you never do that again. To say it out loud – admitting it, owning it – will help to prevent you from doing it again. Hiding your mistakes or covering them up is lying – to yourself and others – and will eat you alive.
Tag: mistakes
Open your eyes…we all make mistakes
It’s easy to judge others. “How could they believe/do/say that???” Yet it’s easy to justify what you have done. You can twist facts or tell partial truths, or maybe it seems like a full truth when really it’s just how you view things…
Regardless, we should work on being less judgmental and more understanding. How can we be more empathetic? How did that person come to that conclusion? How can we help them? Do they even want our help?
And then…what’s even harder…open your eyes to your own mistakes. Stop pointing fingers – blaming others or circumstances. What role did you play on how things turned out? Knowing what you know now, how would you act differently if you could go back and change things? Because guess what? It’s probably not the last time you’ll encounter a situation like that. It’s better to learn from your mistakes and change the future outcome instead of burying your head in the sand and acting like you didn’t make a mistake.
Setting easy and hard goals
It’s only a partial truth when you hear the saying, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Because the alternative to that is that something could beat you down and wear you out, and if you don’t allow yourself to recover before the next defeat, you’re only going to see a decrease in performance. Too many harsh defeats in a row could decrease your confidence, and instead of making you stronger, it weakens your resolve.
Practice balancing between setting hard to achieve, but still realistic goals and getting some quick wins under your belt (to build momentum and confidence). When you do go for something and fail, prioritize learning from your mistakes and recovering from failures. Just make sure that A) you’re not aiming too low just to avoid the feeling of pain/loss; and B) you have regular stretch goals that are realistic, but definitely not guaranteed.
Courage to look within
Have the courage to face your weaknesses. Where are you lagging behind? What faults do you have? What mistakes do you repeatedly make? How can you improve in these areas?
Have the courage to admit you were wrong. It will be hard to look in the mirror instead of pointing out the faults of others. Or to admit your mistakes without caveats or giving excuses…just own them. Don’t say, “I only did this because…” or “I wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t do this.” That’s not admitting your mistake, not really.
Focus on your actions and how you can improve the situation, not on what you did right and what the other person did wrong. Don’t go in with the idea of having an “unwritten and unspoken agreement” (something in your head only) that when you apologize for X, the other will/should apologize for Y. That’s not how it works. Be sorry when you’re sorry. If you only use the words but don’t actually mean it, others will eventually see through it.
Mistake-free living is impossible
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
And they still make mistakes! You might as well try to push the limits to further your education and experiences and to grow as a person.