It was as innocent as such an event could be…at least from
one person’s view of the experience. After
all, what harm could be done, really?
The wife and child were out of town and a co-worker was game
for a weekend hook-up. Who’d be the
wiser? One secret little fling and life
goes on, right?
The weekend experience exceeded all expectations! It was wonderful for both parties and it was
presumed no lives had to be shattered because of the infidelity.
For our hero it turned out to be a big mistake. No…make that a big, BAD mistake! What seemed innocent enough turned into a Fatal Attraction.
Yes, the story told in the movie, Fatal Attraction, clearly
illustrates the horrendous outcomes that can come from making bad mistakes. As it proves bad mistakes can be fatal.
Conversely, good mistakes usually aren’t fatal and actually
can be helpful to the person making them.
So, the idea is, if you want to be a success at anything
don’t fear making good mistakes. There
are three good reasons that is the case.
Gain Wisdom
While the experience of failure may not necessarily be
enjoyable, the truth is failure broadens your understanding. The more you know…the less you fear.
There are plenty of examples out there of very successful
people who used their failures as learning experiences. They didn’t let the failures depress them into
inaction. They learned what not to do from
them and corrected their approach in how they were pursuing the outcome they
wished to achieve.
Thomas Edison is one great example. Among his most insightful observations about
how mistakes (failure) can be a good thing is:
“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
In other words, he
gained wisdom from his mistakes and used that new wisdom in moving closer to
his ultimate objective.
He is also noted
for saying:
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
You could put that
another way by saying a bad mistake is made whenever you give up. Clearly giving up is a fatal mistake because
you stop your pursuit of the related goal.
Gain wisdom from your mistakes and good things will
ultimately happen.
Broaden Your Comfort Zone
In a popular Netflix series, Better Call Saul, the brother
of the main character has slid into agoraphobia. It’s a terrible anxiety condition that stops
sufferers from going outside, as just one symptom. Talk about having a limited comfort zone!
Well, making good mistakes limits a metaphoric agoraphobia
when it comes to your current comfort zone.
Getting out of your current comfort zone is critical to
achieving all you can be, do or have. I
ask you: How can you be, do or have more
without doing things differently?
The obvious answer is you can’t!
Making mistakes forces you to broaden your comfort
zone. When you broaden your comfort
zone, the related gain in wisdom and perspective drives greater success.
That would seem to be good and certainly not fatal!
Enjoy Life More
Overcoming mistakes makes you more resilient. Being able to quickly bounce back from the
difficulties created by mistakes adds a confidence that makes life more
enjoyable.
You know how good you feel when you figure out a new way to
do something? You feel clever and
innovative, right? Inevitably you made
mistakes while finding the new way, but it resulted in making life more
enjoyable.
Life becomes more enjoyable when you give yourself a break
regarding making mistakes. That empathy
for yourself allows you to accept the mistakes as learning opportunities and to
use them in moving on toward your objective.
Yes, good mistakes are absolutely not fatal. They are the admission price to succeeding in
everything you do.
Make no mistake about it!
What is one example of a good mistake you
have made? What wisdom did you
gain? How did it help broaden your
comfort zone? In what way did making the
mistake help you enjoy life more?
Please share your thoughts by commenting below.
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media share link at the top or bottom of this post.
Thank you.
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