Perhaps more than anything else throughout all of history, the experiences that have resulted in human beings learning the most are times when mistakes have been made. Imagine the countless mistakes made by Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers that brought us the wonderful inventions of the light bulb and airplane.
Unfortunately, mistakes in the 21st century have developed a negative reputation. We tend to avoid situations in which we are likely to make mistakes or fail.
What are the thoughts or feelings that usually get activated in you when you make a mistake? What’s your script when you make a mistake? What do you think or say? Most people would answer that question with negative thoughts or feelings.
Let’s change that. Let’s return mistakes to being the primary way by which human beings learn and grow. Here’s a script that will help us do that: “Oops. Look what I just did. Wonder what I can learn from this.”
‘Oops’ means a mistake has been made.
‘Look what I just did’ means I’m responsible for it.
‘Wonder what I can learn from this’ means I want to get the lesson.
Try that script next time you make a mistake and then share with your family, friends, and colleagues something wonderful you learned from the mistake.
Click this link to hear Paul discuss this week’s blog.
Contact Top 20 Training to hear how we can discuss this topic further with your faculty/staff, students, coaches, or business: info@top20training.com
