Mistakes as stepping stones – Roundtable 25

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What did you learn from a past mistake that will ensure a future success? Thomas A. Edison nailed the value of learning from mistakes when he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” The best way to learn is to make mistakes, learn from these, and make adjustments to improve the way forward.

Not surprisingly, people who achieve great feats, tend to recover from mistakes that lead  less successful people to give up. Why though, do some fear mistakes, and why do we criticize other’s mistakes?

It may surprise you to realize that errors allow the brain to scoop up lessons from your past that can often launch a better start.

Author, Henry Link showed why this is so, in the words:

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, another is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.

Using multiple intelligences we learn from mistakes

How so?

Reflection is the mental tool that transforms missteps into mental growth. It’s a bit like a litmus test. By looking beyond poor tone spoken to a cranky colleague in past, for instance, why not try a new approach this week?

Human brains make the best use of bloopers according to neurological research, when people learn and change through their muddles.

Check out three smart skills that help you mentally to turn mistakes into stepping stones that shape new successes …

1. Focus on new possibilities rather than regret lost opportunities. When it comes to the brain we truly do become what we think and do, and mistakes make better stepping stones when we learn from them by shaping new approaches that help us move on.

2. Step back from each mistake you make and reframe a new approach for a similar situation in a more effective way. Ask others for advice. See evidences for success by imitating people you respect. Refuse to remain in ruts, or blame others. Risk courage for the change it takes to convert tragedies into triumphs.

3. Be good to you, because you need the mental chemical serotonin to succeed. Make a decision to stop beating up on yourself for mistakes and then stick to that decision. Admit your mistakes quickly before cortisol takes you down – apologize if others get hurt by errors you make and the mental freedom that gives will help you to move on.

Mistakes become capital for successful people, yet can bankrupt those who rewire brainpower more for failure than triumph. What smart skills move you beyond past failures?

Created by Ellen Weber, Brain Based Tasks for Growth Mindset

This tool is available on my TpT site

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