Everyone makes mistakes

Susan Baroncini-Moe and Ashley Mwanza

Ralph Waldo Emerson reminded us that we should, “finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

But how do you bounce back from those moments of frustration and avoid feeling discouraged? Sometimes the best thing to do when you hit a wall is to take a step backward and reassess your position. Analyse the failure and look for the lesson. Look toward the future. Start planning from here forward and get back on track. One mistake won't make the Earth tilt off its axis and one failure doesn't mean your life is over.

Take some time and look at the bigger picture and see this moment for what it really is: a blip on the radar, if even that. Often, our gaffes seem much larger to us than they do to anyone else. Many times, mistakes aren't even noticed by other people. So gain a little perspective and remember that what seems massive to you might seem minimal to the rest of the world.

The best thing you can do is to decide before you make a mistake that you'll never give up in your pursuit to resolve it. That way you'll be prepared to keep going, no matter what happens.

Sometimes all you can do when you make a mistake or fail at something is to just get up, dust yourself off, and move on. There are times for thought and analysis and there are times for moving on. In fact, in a recent chat about entrepreneurial success, Sir Richard Branson was asked, "What's the best way to handle failure?" and his answer was, "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again."

There's nothing wrong with starting over. There's nothing wrong with backtracking and fixing something. The bottom is a great place to start because frankly, the only way us up. Start over. Start again. There's nothing wrong with it.

Paraphrasing Thich Nhat Hahn, when you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. If we have problems in our lives, we blame ourselves. But if we know how to take care of ourselves, we will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and arguments. Assess the conditions and adjust them to suit your growth. No blaming, no argument, just understanding, learn to understand your surroundings and how they affect your pursuit/s in life. Don’t blame, don’t give up, give it all you’ve got, analyse it and persevere.

Ultimately, the most important thing to remember is that everyone makes mistakes. Remember that if  you don't try, you can't succeed. Keep in mind that old adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again," and make it a part of your mind-set, and you'll try, try, try until you do succeed...and you'll learn from every little bump in the road along the way.