In the conventional world, a mistake is seen as an incorrect, unwise, or unfortunate act or decision. A mistake can be caused by bad judgment, a lack of information, or a lack of attention to detail. You make numerous mistakes every day without serious consequence. I know you and I would prefer to avoid making mistakes but without perfect attention and perfect prediction, they are inevitable. The conventional examines the difference between mistake and failure is that mistake is an error or a blunder while failure is state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, failure is “a situation in which someone or something does not succeed.” It is the opposite of success. Or is it?
If you view or experience failure as a “mis-take.” If you start to see or the event as a “mis-take,” it is like in my wife’s professional career (advertising). When they are making a new commercial, they have lots of “mis-takes.” They call them versions, flops, or duds. They will do another “take.” They know they are going in to shoot a commercial over and over until they have enough “film” (now it is all digital) to go into the edit studio and piece together a top-notch commercial.
The more “mis-takes” you make, the more you can learn. You are human. Recognizing that “mis-takes” are inevitable gives you the ability to use “mis-takes” as a growth opportunity instead of a setback. The following “Rules of Being Human” describe what life is all about. There is a rule that says “you and I will learn lessons.” There is another rule that there are no “mis-takes”—only lessons. One more rule is a lesson is repeated until it is learned. A further rule is if you don’t learn the easy lessons, they get harder. Finally, the rule is you will know you have learned a lesson when your actions change.
You take the approach that you have “mis-takes,” follow the rules and it will lead to success. We are all on a path to make ourselves better all the time. We live to become stronger people and with deeper insight into ourselves and others. If you will give yourself grace, then you learn how to be a better story of yourself. Please forgive yourself OVER and OVER. There is not a perfect state or condition. I am a recovering perfectionist. I discovered that perfection is the lowest standard that I can hold. It was an excuse to be a procrastinator and always making a change. I still need to remind myself that it is better to do something than to continue to “work on it.” Because life will pass us on unless we do it! It gets easier with time.
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