Friday Review: Mistakes

Friday Review: Mistakes

What is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made? What “mistake” turned out to be a good thing? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

 

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, risk-taking, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”

 

 

 

“Just because you’ve made mistakes doesn’t mean your mistakes get to make you. Take notice of your inner critic, forgive yourself, and move on.”

 

 

 

“One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.”

 

 

 

A mistake is only as valuable as the time you spend learning from it

“A mistake is only as valuable as the time you spend learning from it.”

Niklas Göke, Author of 2-Minute Pep Talks

Image from Unsplash by Daniela Holzer

How do you usually respond when someone points out a mistake you’ve made?

My first reaction is often denial or a quick “sorry,” then I put it behind me.

What happens when the person pointing out this misstep continues to mention the error of your ways?

We almost never appreciate them rubbing it in, do we?

What if rubbing it in is actually what is needed in certain situations?

Where and how would a deeper look and a bit more time to contemplate our mishaps allow a valuable lesson to sink in and stick well beyond the moment?

EXERCISE:

What are some examples of significant mistakes you have made recently or over the years?

To what degree do you take the time to let their lessons seep in and impact your future efforts?

Friday Review: Mistakes

Friday Review: MISTAKES

How do you view the mistakes you have made? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

“We should learn from the mistakes of others. We don’t have time to make them all ourselves.”
 

 

 

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.”
 

 

 

“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”

 

 

 

Friday Review: Mistakes

FRIDAY REVIEW: MISTAKES

What have you learned from mistakes you have made? Here are a few mistake-related posts you may have missed.

 

“Just because you’ve made mistakes doesn’t mean your mistakes get to make you. Take notice of your inner critic, forgive yourself, and move on.”

 

 

 

“One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.”

 

 

 

 

“We should learn from the mistakes of others. We don’t have time to make them all ourselves.”

 

 

 

Friday Review of Mistakes

FRIDAY REVIEW: MISTAKES

How do you react when you make a mistake? Here are a few mistake-related posts you may have missed. Click the links to read the full message.

 

“We should learn from the mistakes of others. We don’t have time to make them all ourselves.”

 

 

 

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.”

 

 

 

“Just because you’ve made mistakes doesn’t mean your mistakes get to make you. Take notice of your inner critic, forgive yourself, and move on.”

 

 

 

More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying them

“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying them.”

—Dan Sullivan, founder and president of The Strategic Coach Inc.

Image from DailyCaring

Having a bias for being right and making others wrong seems to be one of the fundamental challenges facing the majority of people throughout history. Although most of us prefer to consider ourselves self-aware and open-minded, we often fall into the trap of seeing the mistakes of others far more often than viewing our own shortcomings.

Instead of closing our eyes to our own responsibilities for certain failures, what if we could shift our perspective from one of embarrassment and shame to one of learning and growth? How would this support the courage it takes to be vulnerable in those moments we fall short in our efforts?

EXERCISE:

Where and on what life issue are you, or perhaps someone you know, in denial about a significant mistake? What would be the benefit if you or they would more frequently embrace the life changing magic and important lessons in such situations?

Creativity is Inventing

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, risk-taking, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”

—Mary Lou Cook, late Peace Activist

During the Personal Excellence Workshop that begins each of my coaching programs, my clients list their personal strengths. I am somewhat surprised that less than half of them include creativity in their list.

When prompted about their level of creativity, they humbly deflect, stating things like, “On Occasion / Not Really,” or “That is why I do _____ for a living.”

I suggest that we all are far more creative than we believe and that we all create our lives each and every day, for better or for worse.

EXERCISE:

How can you take Mary Lou Cook’s coaching to increase your daily level of inventing, experimenting, risk-taking, rule breaking, and mistake making to expand your creative capacity and make your life a lot more fun?

Friday Review: Mistakes

FRIDAY REVIEW: MISTAKES

How do you view the mistakes you have made? Here are a few mistake-related posts you may have missed. Click the links to read the full message.

“We should learn from the mistakes of others. We don’t have time to make them all ourselves.”

 

 

 

 

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.”

 

 

 

“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”

 

 

 

 

Thorn of Experience

“One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.”

—James Russell Lowell, 20th Century American poet, critic, and diplomat

Image from Flickr by Taro Taylor

Image from Flickr by Taro Taylor

Perhaps the single most significant reason the coaching profession has grown to over a $2 billion industry is the fact that it focuses a great degree on experiential learning. Although there is still a substantial value in telling and showing, it seems the stickiness and sustainability of the lesson comes from experiencing things firsthand, where we actually get on the field, run a few plays, and see what happens.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can you include far more experiential learning opportunities to help you progress even further in your life?

“Your best teacher…”

“Your best teacher is your last mistake.”

—Ralph Nader, American political activist

Image from bentleymasterminds.com

Image from bentleymasterminds.com

I’d like to alter Nader’s quote by changing the word “mistake” to “experience.”

Perhaps one of the reasons the coaching profession has grown so rapidly over the last two decades is that it takes place on the field of our lives through experiential learning.

It is our own self-awareness and self-reflection regarding the experience of our mistakes, setbacks, progress, and victories that can be our most brilliant teachers.

EXERCISE:

Take five minutes at the end of the day today to examine what worked, what didn’t, and why. What did you learn? What new and different actions will you take based on these lessons?