“A man who is afraid to fail will fail at trying. The only way to overcome failure and become a person of influence and significance is by learning from your mistakes”, Ferdinard Senyo Lawson.
Mistakes are part of human development. No one gets better in life without making any form of mistake. You are not the first and neither are you going to be the last to make mistakes in life. This means that many people have made serious mistakes or will be making one on their journey in life. The issue is not the mistakes but your attitude and the mindset you develop when you make mistakes is what will determine whether you are a failure or not.
Success is not like the air one breathes. It is in the activity we do and pursue regardless of the fears and challenges of failure. I have always said that, what you are afraid of, you can never become it; this implies that when you are afraid to make a mistake as you pursue success, you will find it difficult to attain that success. There are many hurdles and challenges in life. However, our ability to rise above them is what gets us into the flight of success. Making mistake is not failure.
Mistakes rather make us grow and develop into what we had always wanted for ourselves. Great and successful men and women are people who have made serious and devastating mistakes in life and have used their lessons learnt to rebuild their personal life and success. A man who is afraid to fail will fail at trying. The only way to overcome failure and become a person of influence and significance is by learning from your mistake.
Most at times, we think successful people do not make mistakes. That is a delusion people still have about themselves. They think making mistakes in life means you are a failure. No! No! No! What they don’t know is that, for one to have a successful story in whatever they do, they must have rooms for mistakes. What you do not prepare for will take you by a great surprise. We must learn to create room or have an open mind about mistakes. This prevents us from peri -arrest when failure hits us like a tornado or tsunami.
Many people live their lives without preparing for mistake. They therefore get deflated and get into shock mode when they make a mistake. The question is: You made a mistake, so what? To become successful in the pursuit of your dreams, goals and aspirations; you should know that you will have to make mistakes, bearing in mind that ” no one is perfect” and therefore, making a mistake is another way of learning and developing into something greater than the mistake.
However, you cannot learn from your mistake when you try to deny it. Denying your mistakes only makes you a victim of failure. This is the reason why it is very paramount that, you learn to accept your mistakes and open up for correction. Failure to do this will push you into depth of disappointment and heartaches.
Failing to accept that you have made a mistake will also prevent others from giving you the right and needful help to make you stronger and wiser. You must be ready to admit your mistakes all the time without feeling shy about them. This is how you get help and redirection.
No driver in his or her rightful mind continues driving on the fastest road knowing very well that he or she has made the wrong turning. Life is a journey and mistakes are like the junctions of life. You never stop going or travelling on the road of life because of a mistake? So why then do you want to give up because you have made a mistake?
Foolish people avoid mistakes but wise people learn from their mistakes.
Learning from your mistakes will inspire you to desire to change and improve your life. You don’t learn from mistakes by avoiding it but embracing it. One thing I have personally learnt from my mistakes in life is that, they make me to OBSERVE, LEARN, DEVELOP, EDUCATE AND DECIDE on how to make my life better and inspire those around me (O.L.D.E.R mistakes should make you older).
You must never run away from making mistakes because in your mistakes lies your greatness. Mistakes build confidence in us to achieve more and better in life. People, who make mistakes, learn from them by responding to life differently and more positively. They do not live their lives anyhow. There are great lessons in mistakes. Don’t avoid them; rather learn from them.
The Five Lessons To Learn From Your Mistakes
There are a lot of benefits we can all derive from our mistakes. These benefits help to reshape our attitudes in life and become successful and relevant in society.
- You become diligent.
Mistakes bring out the best in us. We tend to work harder when we experience some level of mistakes. Most successful people get committed to what they have set before them and do everything possible to achieve it. Because they know how painful mistakes can be, they put all their efforts into everything they do when working on their ideas just to ensure that they achieve it. Mistake makes you diligent.
- You learn to be patient.
When you haven’t made any mistake in life, you think everything is about rush, rush and rush. You become hasty about life. However, when you make mistakes and learn from them, you become more cautious and careful about the way you carry yourself and live your life. You then appreciate that nothing is gained through rushing but through patience.
You can microwave porridge but you cannot do that with success. I have always remembered this statement made by my late grandmother that, “A patient dog can only eat a fat bone”. This statement has thought me to be patient in life and never to rush to be rich overnight. With patience, success can be achieved.
- You become focus and determined.
Successful individuals are more determined and focused to achieve something in life. This is because they have learnt from their mistakes and knew how to avoid repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Mistakes also help you to remain resolute, dedicated and determined by sticking to one thing particularly in life in your pursuit of success.
It takes great efforts and determination to overcome these barriers of failure. This only becomes possible when you learn to identify, accept your mistake and have the mindset to learn. Be like the postage stamp on an envelope; you never come off the envelope even if you arrived at the wrong address. You stick until you reach your destination in life. For you to achieve success in life, you should be ready to be dedicated to pursue and improve upon yourself no matter the number of times you make mistakes. This is how your dreams and goals are achieved. Never allow anything or anyone to stand before you in the pursuit of your dreams.
- You learn to plan ahead.
Another benefit of making a mistake is that you become an effective planner. People who learn to plan are people who have learnt that, failing to plan will always result in failure and disappointment. Mistakes make us to be more proactive and organized. You don’t just take things for granted but develop the habit to plan, work towards your goals and become successful. Nothing works and gets a man successful like planning. Plans help us to build internal confidence and belief in our abilities to achieve anything we set our minds to do.
Sometimes, we lack boldness to try something simply because, we have filled our minds with negativity that we will fail and become a laughing stock. This stops us from believing our strengths but focus on our weaknesses just because, we do not want to be mocked or laughed at. Please, regardless of the number of times you have failed trying to be successful; you have the power to keep trying until you succeed. Don’t give up.
Many people have failed more than you have failed yet, they have not given up so, why must you? I dare you to start changing your attitude to mistakes and see it as a stepping stone into your successful life. You will always make a mistake on your way to success but you have valuable lessons to learn if you faint not. Step up and keep up. You are destined to succeed through your mistakes.
You may have made the mistake by picking the wrong shoes for boardroom dance, have gotten into the wrong transport or train to another destination; or even have made the wrong pizza order. What will you do? Would you have found another way to deal with it and learn a vital lesson from it? Well this is life.
- Choose Your Friends Wisely
Sometimes, we get into wrong associations or relationships with people we do not like or jobs we don’t even want to do. It does not mean we should give up and throw in the towel. Not everyone is lovable or caring. If you think you have made a mistake by getting into the wrong associations, you can only get out from it but it should not prevent you from trying another relationship that has had your best interest at heart. Know that you cannot change people but yourself. Never allow negative people to pollute your mind, environment and change the direction of your purpose in life.
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