We all make mistakes no matter if we’re ten or sixty years old. Mistakes are an essential part of what makes us who we are. Mistakes are a crucial step in learning, improving and evolving to the person you want to become. Although it doesn’t make it any easier admitting you’ve made a mistake.
One of the first steps to learning from a mistake is to admit that in fact a mistake or error has been made. Though simple it can be difficult to implement, because it is easy to start blaming others to distance ourselves from potential repercussions.
However, if we are able to be honest with ourselves and say “I’ve made a mistake and I’m responsible for my actions” provides us a great opportunity to avoid the same mistake again. Thus, showing a level of maturity and wisdom that many people struggle with their entire lives.
The kind of mistakes we make define what type of life we have. If we take on more risk and are considered more of a risk-taker were likely to make some mistakes along the way. Rather than if the biggest mistakes we ever make are missing our favorite TV show or buying the wrong size shirt at the mall. However, in many cases making some mistakes are sometimes the best thing that can happen to us. There are always powerful lessons to be learned from mishaps that are vital to our ability to become who we are meant to be. Here are 5 powerful lessons that can be learned through failures, mistakes and mishaps.
- Mistakes teach us to take responsibility – Often times our instinctive reaction to a mistake is to either shift the blame elsewhere or beat ourselves up inside. We say things like “It’s not my fault, “I don’t see how this has anything to do with me” or “I’m so stupid why do I always do this.” Taking responsibility for a failure may not be fun, but the act of doing so points out what we can do differently next time. Examining our role reminds us that our decisions and actions have a huge consequence on the quality of our lives.
- Mistakes teach us about integrity – Majority of the time mishaps happen when we break promises, over-commit, agree to avoid conflict or fail to listen fully. Big mistakes usually start as small errors, but over time they start to affect us on a larger scale. Therefore, it is important we pay attention to the integrity of the choices we make every day. Mistakes can be a signal that our words and actions are out of alignment.
- Mistakes teach us to engage in our lives — Once we realize that we aren’t defined by our mistakes. We will be willing to learn from them and not be fearful of making the “dreaded mistake.” Often times when we become fearful of making mistakes we won’t take any risks or chances, because we’re so afraid to make a mistake. As a wise woman once told me “Your history does not have to predict your future… it’s not about the mistake you made yesterday, but what you’ve learned today.” I remember once I watched a documentary on a man some would consider to be successful. He worked a full-time job for forty years, made a decent living and lived in a middle-class home. Many people would consider him the American dream. However, when interviewed on his death bed he was asked do you have regrets? He said “I wish I had taken more risk and made more mistakes… I never really took a chance on anything and many people would look at my life and say I was successful, but in actuality I was miserable… I had chances to take risk but was too afraid to actually do it.” Understanding that without risk there is sometimes no reward.
- Mistakes allow us to inspire others – Although mistakes can seem like a waste of time and effort. Often times our mistakes can be used to not only teach but inspire others. I can remember countless number of times when people would tell me stories about their past mistakes and it has helped me to avoid some of those same pitfalls. Therefore, sharing our failure and mistakes can be a true help to others.
- Mistakes don’t make us a failure – There are many negative connotations of mistakes in our society providing us with mix-signals about mistakes. Some say mistakes are a great learning opportunity while others deem it to be an undesirable and one of the most awful things that could ever happen. Mistakes are a part of life with them we wouldn’t have as much admiration for success. Mistakes provides us with a blue-print of what to do and not to do to reach said success.
Final Thoughts
In the end mistakes are a part of being human appreciate mistakes for what they are. Learn, grow and become a better you. Allow yourself room to grow into the person you are destined to be and reach the predestined greatness that is already set for your life.
What’s one of the biggest mistakes you’ve ever made & how did you learn from it? Comment below & if you enjoyed this post please like, share and comment!
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and do learn from the mistakes of others – you don’t have time to make them all yourself.
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Good article Jay. “You gain more from losing than winning” is proof of your argument. Nice job!
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Thank you so much for reading!
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So well written Jay. Thank you.
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Thank you for reading!
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As regional administrator for a very large national corporation, I often had employees try to tell me why things weren’t their fault. I always, always, told them to quit trying to fix the blame and tell me what happened so we could figure out what to do to fix it. It never really matters who “did it” as much as fixing it. Then I would tell them to figure out what needed to happen so this wouldn’t occur again. It took about a year before all of them quit trying to fix the blame and would say, “This is what happened and I don’t know what to do to fix it. Can you help?” So much time is wasted on “blame” when it could be spent on the “fix.” Good points in this article.
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wow!!!
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This is really inspiring !! Loved the post !!
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Thank you for reading!
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too many mistakes to name 🙂 Mistakes also humble us and teach us that it is okay to not be perfect. It’s how you rise up after a mistake that makes all the difference.
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Exactly mistakes teach us a lot if we allow it to!
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Jay, your posts are truly wonderful!! I look forward to each of your messages. Yes, we all make mistakes and how we deal those mistakes can affect our day to day life and the lives of others. An important thing is to first admit we have made a mistake. Yes, I have made plenty of mistakes in my life, big ones and small ones. 🙂 When I realize a mistake, I ask God to forgive me and help me to know what to do to not repeat that mistake. Apologies are very important, too. 🙂
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Thank you so much for your kind words. I always appreciate your feedback and insight!
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It is great to see something written where making mistakes can actually turn into a great experience. Long as we learn and grow from our mistakes.
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I like what a previous commenter said about learning from the mistakes of others. You don’t always have to be the one to screw up to learn a lesson.
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An excellent post!
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Thank you!
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Mistakes are a valuable part of our lives. I pray that I have the wisdom to recognized my mistakes (and those that I see others making) and learn from them.
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Great food for thought. As a Teacher, I am always reminding my students that we only get better when we learn from our mistakes.
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Thank you & yes these lessons are key for kids to learn at a early age!
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One of my biggest mistakes was trying to fit what I thought others expected of me in order to please them. I lost myself, being who they wanted me to be, and doing a lousy job of it. In order to learn how to be myself, I had to stop lying, especially to myself. Life is still complicated, but at least I’m not burdened by the effort of trying to continue to juggle the lies.
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Such a nice post!! True in every sense…😇
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Thank you!
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Hi! I completely agree with you and it seems to me that you always have to do your best, however it’s ok if you fail sometimes.
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Imagine a society where mistakes would be celebrated! That would be a cool thing to see :)))
I wish we can change the negative connotation of the work “mistake” – it looks like it’s a personal job of everyone 🙂
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I absolutely agree with all of this. Mistakes are learning experiences!
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No one enjoys the process of making mistakes but this is good advice on how to turn it into something positive!
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A good post with essential information for personal growth!
Steve
https://lightministryblog.wordpress.com/
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Mistakes are the building blocks of our lives. Just think how many times we fell down as infants before we could get up and walk. If we had all just gave up, we’d all still be sitting on our bums. Thanks for sharing Jay God bless you
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It’s inevitable for us humans to make mistakes sometimes, but yes if we respond the right way to them, we will be restored in a much bigger way than what we have lost!
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I couldn’t agree more. We learn so much from our mistakes. They teach us what not to do so hopefully we will do better next time.
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This is so true! Mistakes can be tough, but I’ve always learned something.
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This was a great post – you obviously spent some time thinking about and planning your material. You had good points, too. I liked that you put the positive spin on mistakes, because it’s easy for us to forget that mistakes are opportunities to grow and learn – it’s nice be reminded of the better perspective now and then.
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Being an overly cautious person, I have very little regrets or mistakes, so mine would definitely be not doing things I should have sooner.
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Not everyone is able to reflect on mistakes in a positive manner. This is a good reminder of that.
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I agree! I am thankful that I have learned from my mistakes.
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I think far too often we let the mistakes we make definie who we are. I agree with you that we shouldn’t be doing that and learning and growing from them.
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Mistakes are evidence that you are trying, you are learning and you are striving to improve. But it takes a great courage to accept the same. BTW, such a great post dude. Keep up the hard work. (y)
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Mistakes are a vital part of any success…nobody makes it without using them as tools! Great post I really enjoyed it!
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As sucky as it is to make a mistake, they definitely teach us lessons that’s for sure!
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I’ve had made several mistakes in my lifetime. One of the biggest mistakes was trusting a person after they’d shown me that they were selfish and couldn’t be trusted. It happens.
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I have always learned my best lessons through mistakes. They are often such a great learning tool.
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This is all true. that’s why we should sometimes let kids make mistakes and learn from it. I have made lots of mistakes and it made me humble
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Mistakes are meant to be made so that we can learn from them. These are great lessons! It’s never easy to have to deal with mistakes, but they’re great teachers too.
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This is very well written. We can learn so much from the mistakes that we make all throughout out lives. It just means that you tried and took the risk as well.
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Very inspiring! Thanks for posting!
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Thank you for reading!
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Yes, of course. Not a problem!
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It’s not always easy to admit when we make a mistake. It is important that we own up to it though. These are great lessons to learn.
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I agree with all your points. Also, mistakes makes us more stronger if we know hoe to use those mistakes.
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I agree with everything you have in this post! I love that you reinforce the fact that mistakes do not make us failures! Mistakes are nothing but learning lessons !!!
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