It’s OK to make mistakes.

I recently watched a clip from a documentary Beyoncé made a few years ago chronicling her journey to creating her 4th album. While watching it, something she said resonated with me. The gist of her statement was that she’s learning a lot and making mistakes, but she thinks it’s OK to make mistakes. I think that was huge for someone like her to say. Whether you like her music or not, you cannot deny that Beyoncé is one of the most successful people in the world who is very talented and works very hard. And there she was, admitting to making mistakes and being OK with that. Her words inspired me to write about that today. So many of us struggle with making mistakes, but we need to see the positives in them and recognize that they only make us better and stronger people. Next time you’re ready to beat yourself up over something you did, try to remember:

1. It’s not the end of the world. Making mistakes is a part of life. Yes that’s a cliché but it is true. When you put aside the emotions you feel – anger, embarrassment, annoyance among others – you know that this is something that you can move past. Ignore the reasons that the mistake happened because they don’t change the fact that it has already happened, unless it helps you to recognize where your shortfalls were. That way you can learn from what you did and do better next time. Nobody is perfect. Another cliché but so very true.

2. Find the opportunity in the mistake. Sometimes mistakes can be blessings in disguise. Let’s say for example you were doing a tiling project in your kitchen. You asked your trusted contractor for specific tiles and left it up to them to source the tiles and install them. When the tiles arrive you are flabbergasted because they are the wrong tiles. Why? You quoted the wrong tile name for your contractor so you did not get what you originally wanted. But, the contractor advises that the tiles you actually wanted were more expensive and the number you needed for your project was not in stock anyway. So yes, you made a mistake. But it turns out that the result was not as bad as you thought. Try to use a positive perspective in future when you make mistakes. There usually is an opportunity in there somewhere and it always works out for the best. Do not fret.

3. Mistakes help you learn. How boring would the world be if we did not make mistakes? Innovation is the norm in today’s world. We are constantly adapting and adjusting to some change in our lives. It is unlikely that the responses we make to our problems will be perfect every time, therefore we will always be susceptible to making errors. By doing so, we learn what did not work, and we can implement something new until we find the solution that makes sense. This is all a part of the process and helps us to get better at what we do everyday.

4. You’re not the first and you won’t be the last. You’re not alone. Do not let people fool you. Do not let your own thoughts cloud your better judgment. EVERYONE makes mistakes. Some of us are just better at owning those mistakes than others. Nothing is wrong with getting things wrong. It is what you do after recognizing the error is what makes the difference.

Mistakes show us where we need to improve. They can be frustrating of course, however do your best to move past your emotions and see the opportunity to do better.

Enjoy the week ahead!

#PeritusSundays #mistakes #opportunities #selfimprovement #Perituscanhelp