Mistakes are one of the only things in this world that can truly unite people.
We’ve all made them and we all will continue to make them.
They’re an inevitable part of human existence. A person who doesn’t make mistakes is a person who has never grown and never truly lived.
Mistakes allow someone to develop real, practical wisdom in their life by exposing them to new, potentially painful truths about life.
Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Mistakes
Our culture is obsessed with success.
However, it rarely shows success in a realistic light. We’re shown highlight reels without the behind-the-scenes.
The truth about success is it can’t be achieved without making occasional, occasionally large, mistakes.
If you want to cultivate a great career, relationship, or life purpose, you will run into walls along the way and make mistakes in the process.
This is, however, a good thing. Mistakes are nothing more than learning experiences that you can take with you into a more successful future.
If you want to be great in life then you have to be willing to spend a few years not being great.
Mistakes don’t exist to hurt you – they exist to teach you how to become better.
Reframing Mistakes as ‘Lessons’
The first step to learning from your mistakes is to reframe them.
Don’t beat yourself up and give up if you make an error – you’ll never grow that way.
Instead, see your mistakes as life-lessons.
It’s a much more practical and optimistic way of looking at your life. It will also inspire you to get out there and take action more.
The more action you take in your life, the more mistakes you’ll make, which means that you’ll have learning experiences to build on and learn from.
The fear of making a mistake won’t seem so threatening when you reframe them as lessons. You’ll have more courage and mental strength which will allow huge personal growth.
Embarrassment is More Valuable Than Regret
One of the main reasons why people are so afraid to make mistakes is due to the embarrassment that comes from making one.
We fear people will laugh at us and ridicule us for making a potentially large error in public.
However, here’s the truth about mistakes that nobody ever talks about:
It’s better to be left full of embarrassment than full of regret.
If you started a business that failed before its first birthday – who cares?
You’ve likely learned a lot of lessons and you no longer have to worry about what could have happened had you not created the company.
You’ll be embarrassed in the short term but you won’t have the true pain that is long-haul regret.
You’ll also have a wealth of experience to draw from the next time you start a business.
True Growth Comes When You Own Up to Mistakes
Taking ownership of your mistakes will lead to massive personal growth.
Not only will it humble you but it will also remind you of how far you’ve come on your personal journey.
Successful people take ownership of their struggles whilst unsuccessful people blame other people and other circumstances for their mistakes.
Those kind of people never grow as they let their experiences define them instead of letting themselves define their experiences.
If you want to unlock huge personal growth the first step is realizing that you’re in complete control of your destiny and any successes, mistakes, and triumphs along the way are mostly down to you.
There’s huge power in vulnerability. Unlock it, own up to your mistakes, forget about them, and watch yourself blossom into the best possible version of yourself.
