Are you afraid of making mistakes? Have you ever “made mistakes” and then tried to make up for it, by making it worse? Mistakes are inevitable, and every successful person, in the course of their career, has had to deal with an unexpected or seemingly insurmountable problem.
The greatest resource of any entrepreneur is his mistakes, yet we often forget about them to the point where we suffer for every mistake. We think we make at work.
Is there any way we can remember all this when we need to? Can we get out of these self-destructive dynamics and learn to turn mistakes into resources, risks into opportunities?
I think so, and I’ve mapped out six steps to do it. Before I tell you about it, though, we need to make a proper introduction…
Avoid the mea culpa
Have you ever seen a business where things are always good? Never an unexpected, never a misunderstanding, never a disagreement: things always go smoothly as planned.
Personally, I have never witnessed anything like this, and on the contrary, I distrust all those who pass their business off. As “the idea of the century,” denying, masking or hiding as much as possible any internal risks and fractures.
Things can’t always go well, we know: the very nature of things is often made up of ups and downs, and although the desire is generally to strive for perfection. We all know very well that it’s just not possible to achieve it.
And yet, well aware of all this, as soon as we run into a setback or the returns of an activity are not what we hoped for, here are many of us professionals/entrepreneurs ready to grab the cilice and self-flagellate ourselves to make mea culpa.
Chronic Perfectionists
Well, although I have never come to corporal punishment, I admit that I too am among the ranks of chronic perfectionists, of those who are never satisfied with what they know/do in their work and who always ask themselves something more every day.
I don’t know what this trend may derive from and unfortunately, I have no way of finding out, so I just observe this phenomenon, self-discipline, and think about it, because these dynamics of thought have the power to radically influence the lives of those who implement or suffer them.
Let’s take an average entrepreneur, already strongly stressed by frantic work rhythms, pressures coming from everywhere (family, friends, colleagues, clients, etc.) and overwhelming responsibilities towards himself and others. We add even just a drop of this continuous search for perfection, then we dilute it all in a chronic lack of time that clearly reduces the chances of concentrating and continuing to form… well, you don’t need to shake this hellish mixture to realize that the situation is highly explosive.
While our average entrepreneur walks around seemingly unaware of everything, with a bright sign on his back saying: “Caution, highly flammable material, handle with care”, I ask myself a question.
Since making mistakes is human, is there a way to turn the work mistakes that each of us (willingly or unwillingly) makes into a resource rather than a serious fault?
My answer is yes, and indeed, I will say more!
Mistakes are not only a valuable asset but are the greatest resource for an entrepreneur because they help him to see the world from a different perspective. Not only that, but they also lead him to seek alternative solutions and offer him information that no one else will ever have.
Then how do you turn mistakes into an asset?
Let’s find out together!
Is there a definition of mistakes (errors) specifically related to Personal Development?
In personal development, we usually say that error is a diploma! It is fundamental to make mistakes to move forward! It is the very mechanism of learning! Which is to try, to make a mistake, to start again, to experiment, to adjust … This is the principle of life! If you don’t allow yourself to be wrong, you miss out on good opportunities to learn about yourself or the situation! When we say that it is a diploma, we mean that it is a compulsory passage to advance, succeed, grow … Churchill said it so well, “success is going from failure to failure without losing his enthusiasm.” The error even has a revealing role: it highlights the obstacle that prevents us from moving forward. Yes, the thing to remember is that whatever our mistake, it will be useful!
1How to turn mistakes into resources: the 6 steps to take
As I see it, there are 6 steps to be taken to turn an error into a resource.
1st step: remove the guilt.
This is not easy to do, but it can be overcome by avoiding living mistakes as personal faults and taking people, things, and situations for what they really are (including ourselves). Guilt is like a deforming lens that prevents you from seeing things clearly and objectively, so the first thing to do is change the lens!
2nd step: analyze the problem “in hindsight” and learn the lesson.
If you realize that you could have actually done something to avoid the problem or limit the damage, then thank the universe for this precious teaching and go on your way, knowing that it won’t happen again because you have learned. If, on the other hand, you realize that even if you did your best, it would not have been possible for you to avoid the obstacle, then stop taking the blame that you do not have. I apologize for the abrupt tone of these last statements, but sometimes I think it needs a “good shake”.
A common mistake is to rely solely on yourself, on your own competence, ignoring any advice, and refusing any outside help. It is clear that this attitude is completely wrong: the closure feeds anxiety, haste, confusion, and fear. Instead of isolating yourself, thus making a new mistake, learn to confront yourself with your colleagues, with your friends, with your family; welcome the most diverse opinions and the most varied advice; considers the comparison as an opportunity to evaluate a problem from a different perspective and find unexpected solutions.
It is very common to have a too flat and static look on the affairs that concern us: embracing a new perspective is the most effective way to find a way out that would otherwise never have been possible to identify!
3rd step: take note, with detachment, of the consequences.
What impact has this error had on your enterprise? What about you? Have you touched other things/persons? If so, how? If possible, try to give “weight” (from 1 to 10) to the severity of each of the consequences you identify. I know that it is not easy to maintain the necessary detachment, because you often tend to be very involved and this can lead to feeling guilty… and having to start again from point 1! Once this is done, try to imagine solutions that solve each point on the list.
To understand if the solutions you have imagined are correct, try to evaluate for each of them the cost involved, the benefit you would gain, and any related risks.
4th step: learn to prevent rather than cure.
Now that you know this kind of problem, it won’t be very difficult for you to understand when and how it might reoccur.
To prevent this or other mistakes from driving you away from your goals, try to define your goal well and, backward, assume “what you could do to achieve it,” “what could go wrong,” and “what you could do to fix it. If you realize that a choice could lead you to very risky scenarios, difficult to manage and with important negative consequences… well, try to avoid reaching that kind of choice by acting beforehand.
Step 5: Divide your most important goals in micro-goals, achievable, and measurable.
This will allow you to realize the road you are traveling in real-time and to notice any important changes in your surroundings. Measuring each parameter will also give you an immediate understanding of which of your choices/actions are achieving the best results and which are not, allowing you to understand which ones to reinforce and which to modify or stop. Once you have categorized your goals work on them by being focused.
6th step: monitor and adjust.
Any good plan, if not implemented, remains a waste of time and maybe paper. Once you have devised your plan for success, therefore, always remember to implement it and verify the correctness of your strategy. It may be that your predictions are not complete or correct, as unforeseen things may happen that change the cards on the table. The important thing is to keep your eyes on the target and be ready to make the necessary course corrections where necessary.
