The Value of Accepting You’ve Made Mistakes

​Does anyone deliberately set out to get things wrong, mess up, and make mistakes?  Of course not!  Everyone enjoys the feeling of being right and getting things right in their life.  Making mistakes and dealing with the aftermath?  That's definitely not so enjoyable. 
 
But just as there’s value in recognizing that you don’t have all the answers in life, there’s also value in accepting that you’ve made mistakes.

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​An opportunity to gain knowledge and insight.
 
If you’re committed to growing as a person, a key stop on your journey is accepting that mistakes are part of life, and that you’ve made a few mistakes along the way.  When you’re willing to admit your mistakes, you can examine them to acquire a better understanding of what happened, how it happened, and why it happened.  For instance:

• Where did you go wrong?
• Who was involved?
• Was the situation preventable? 
• Was there anything you could have done differently?
• Is there a pattern of behaviour you need to address?

 
As you explore all these different angles, you have an opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and insight.  With this new-found knowledge and insight to draw on, you’re equipped to make better decisions in future.  And with better decisions, you’ll achieve better, more desirable outcomes in your life.
 
 
Don’t get down on yourself for your mistakes; extract as much as you can from those past experiences.
 
Owning up to your mistakes and accepting responsibility for your actions doesn’t mean you need to get stuck in the past.  Nor do you want to start beating yourself up or getting down on yourself for all those past mistakes. Neither respons is helpful.
 
Instead, you want to extract as much as you can from those past experiences to help you grow and mature as a person.
 
 
You’re not alone in having made some major mistakes.
 
Understand that you’re not alone in having made some major mistakes in your life.  No-one avoids the occasional misstep and a few wrong turns here and there.  Furthermore, everyone has specific areas where they’re especially prone to poor judgment and bad decision-making.  This applies to the wealthy and the smart, the talented and the good looking, and all those people who look like they’re living perfect lives with everything totally together.
 
Where people differ is in how they respond to these mistakes.  There are those who refuse to acknowledge their mistakes.  There are those who repeat the same mistakes over and over gain, never learning from them.  There are those who struggle to recover from their mistakes; they have a hard time forgiving themselves and moving on. 
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"Mistakes are the stepping stones to wisdom.  We learn from trial and error; we become wise by understanding problems." 

​Leon Brown, Former Major League Baseball Player

And then there are those who accept their mistakes and learn from them.  These people then go forward with greater awareness of themselves and the world around them.  This is where the value lies.
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Discover other challenges you’ll face if you’re committed to personal growth.
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Image Credit:  Susbany from Pixabay