Thomas Edison said it best: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Anybody who has achieved anything has made mistakes along the way. The only way to avoid mistakes is to take the safest course, aim below our potential, and not try anything new.

Making a mistake should not be a goal but neither should it be seen as something totally distinct from the overall growth and development process. Making a mistake should be part of learning. In fact, many of us made our greatest number of mistakes when we were in school – and that is how we learned.

If we consider mistake-making to be a normal part of the learning process, we can avoid repetitively making dumb mistakes, and we can hopefully avoid making catastrophic mistakes.

People who find it unacceptable to make mistakes tend to be self-critical when a mistake inevitably occurs. They tend to wallow and put themselves down rather than concentrating on how we can achieve the next time we try. What things can we do differently? Did we overestimate or underestimate something? Did we risk to much or too little? Were we counting on others for help who didn’t have adequate skills or commitment?

A mistake is a step in the process of achieving – so long as we can learn from it. Edison learned by trying things that didn’t work 10,000 times. Most of us aren’t inventors and aren’t in a position to make nearly as many mistakes. Having to deal with a lesser quantity of mistakes should make it so much easier to learn from them.

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