Every mistake is a learning experience. I know. Most of us think mistakes are terrible things to be avoided at all costs. Successful people don't make mistakes! Smart people don't make mistakes! Only losers make mistakes.
That thought process is exactly why so many people give up on their goals. I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this but if you are trying to do anything new, if you are in any way stepping outside your normal comfort zone, you are going to have setbacks. Yup! You are going to make a mistake.
Does that make you a failure or a loser? Absolutely not! What does is not admitting the mistake and taking the opportunity to learn from it. For example, I did not put gas in my car last Friday. It was cold and rainy and I didn't want to mess with it. I told myself I would go do it over the weekend. But the weekend came and went and I didn't do it then either. I didn't want to run all the way into town just to get gas. I had an appointment Monday morning. I would just leave early and do it on the way.
Well I'm sure you can guess what happened Monday. Everything that could possibly go wrong did and instead of being early I was actually running late. And of course, I had completely forgotten about needing to stop for gas. I was so focused on everything else, that I didn't remember until I actually turned the ignition and saw the gas gauge. I had made a mistake. And a big one because I was 20 minutes late for my appointment. Not a good way to make an impression!
Stupid mistake? Oh yeah! Did I learn from it? You betcha! Will I ever do it again? Absolutely not! And instead of making excuses, I truthfully explained to the person I was meeting what had happened. They were a bit irritated because they were going to have to reschedule our appointment. But they did reschedule. Because they too had made stupid mistakes. And they respected the fact that I had admitted to my foolish decisions.
And so tomorrow we have another meeting set up. My gas tank is full. I have set the alarm to make sure I don't oversleep. I WILL be on time. I will not let the past interfere with my goals for tomorrow. Persistent action and continual learning lead to success.
Some of you are probably already judging or laughing at me for making such a ridiculous mistake. You think you would never do business with someone as irresponsible as I appear to be. Well you know what? I don't care. The real battle is not with you. It's with me. I have to learn to get past this. I have to make the changes to be sure it never happens again. And you soon as you learn that lesson - that the real battle is not with others but with ourselves - you will be one step closer to success.
If you're making mistakes, it means at least you're out there doing something. Make your mistakes your motivation, not your excuse.
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