Lessons from Mistakes

"Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers." -- Anthony Robbins

Some people really hate making mistakes and put undue pressure on themselves to be perfect all the time, or at least as often as possible.  However, consider how little people would know, learn, or grow if they never made a mistake?

 

Just like anger actually has a purpose, making mistakes have a purpose.  They teach us how specific choices lead to specific results. Consider how touching something hot as a child definitely taught why not to do that again in the future.  You learned, and added to your knowledge with each successive mistake.

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." —Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle

So you never need to beat yourself up for making mistakes — it means you're living and learning.  And by seeking the lessons from mistakes, you should never commit the same one twice.  In order to decrease your learning curve though, ask yourself these empowering questions daily when reflecting on the previous day:

- What is the message, gift, or lesson from recent experiences?
- Where should I focus my attention, energy, and love now?
- What would I do if I had nothing to fear and knew I could not fail?

"A prudent question is one-half of wisdom." -- Francis Bacon