The Benefits of Mistakes
You probably wondering how I could dare to think up a post such as this.
How could there possibly be any benefit of mistakes?
The last time we took a look at how to handle mistakes. If you have not read that post, please do so after reading this one or even now.
As we established in that post, mistakes are not something we like to admit or own up to.
Worse, mistakes can leave us full of regret and even depressed.
But did you ever consider the positive side of mistakes? Positive side? Yes, there are benefits of making mistakes. Yes, the heading is not a typo. Let’s take a look
#1 Mistakes gives us confidence
Now, mistakes and confidence don’t seem like they go together. How just do mistakes give us confidence?
As we said in our previous post on how to handle mistakes, mistakes are teachers.
When we make mistakes we can often see what others may not see simply because they have not erred in that area.
If we learn from our mistakes, then we are better equipped. We know precisely what to do in an issue and therefore act accordingly.
#2 Mistakes helps us make better decisions
This follows on from the point above. We also talked about that in our previous post on How to Handle Mistakes.
We also learnt that mistakes makes us wise and is part of greatness. ( I tell you, you must read this post. Not because I wrote it but because it will help anyone including me!).
People often say experience is a good teacher. They say that because experience often involves making mistakes.
Thomas Edison is famously quoted for saying he did not fail. He just learnt 10,000 ways that don’t work. In other ways 10,000 mistakes. (Some quotes vary on the number and say 1,000. 1,000 or 10,000 is lot of mistakes regardless. It takes tenacity to keep plodding on).
From mistakes we can ask ourselves:
- What went wrong?
- How did it go wrong?
- What contributed to it going wrong?
- What was your responsibility?
- Why did it go wrong?
- Where did it go wrong?
Once you can answer these questions, we are in a great position to make a better decision than before.
We can look into what we would not do the next time. What we can improve. What we can change.
You have been there, done that, made the mistake and earned critical thinking and problem solving skills among other things like perhaps the t-shirt!
#3 Mistakes give us boldness
When we can stand up to our mistakes, our confidence that mistakes are finality helps us with our confidence a great deal.
The issue that a lot of people have with mistakes, is the fear of making them.
But when we can stand shoulder to shoulder with our mistakes with some uncommon authority, that fear is no longer an issue.
People who are not afraid to make mistakes are often high achievers. They are not afraid to stretch themselves. So they do not set low achievable targets.
Those who are afraid of making mistakes often set their sights low. They are often in a comfort zone.
Now, I am not saying go take some high risk. You got to know where you are at and what you can handle.
However, if you keep setting low targets for fear of making a mistake, you will get to 80 and realise you did not realise your full potential.
#4 Mistakes make us humble
Those who make mistakes, especially open mistakes are humble. They are not afraid of losing face!
They make a mistake, everyone knows about it, everyone is talking about it, yet they just seem to recover and ride over it. They pick themselves up and continue like the mistake never happened. Those talking about it are the ones that remember.
Meanwhile they have learnt from their mistake and getting into new ventures. They may have even publicly admitted they were wrong.
#5 Mistakes teaches us compassion
People who make few mistakes, or rather do not own up to their mistakes, are often proud (as we said a point above, mistakes makes us humble). They can also be judgmental.
Mistakes teaches us to be forgiving. To walk in other people’s shoes. To be more understanding of others. We learn courage and respect for others by virtue of our mistakes.
Please read and share the post on How to Handle Mistakes, if you have not already done so.
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