5 Reasons to Celebrate Your Mistakes!

Have you ever experienced that moment when you hit the ‘enter’ button on your keyboard and in that exact second you realise you have made a mistake – not just any mistake…HUGE Right?

My (Monumental) Mistake

One day, I sent out my first email marketing campaign using a new automated program, a campaign I have been working on for the past month; I was excited to ‘finally’ have it ready, and boy, did I hit that ‘send’ button with relief and joy.

Until… I looked at the reports that said that ‘BOTH’ my campaigns were successfully sent – OOPS! Somehow, I managed to send two campaigns at the same time. The problem is that the second one was not complete and had no dates or information (just merge fields…cringe!)

…at this point, I looked something like this

…think Edvard Munch's famous painting - "The Scream"

Then, of course, I spent the next couple of days beating myself up…OMG, what will people think? It looks unprofessional...blah, blah, blah!

Oh yeah…then it happens AGAIN! I thought I had disabled the second campaign….but no, This Morning follow-up emails went out (for both campaigns)…..this time, I skipped the beating-up session and had a good laugh instead… really – what can you do once the proverbial horse has bolted!

How Many Times have we beaten ourselves up with guilt, blame or negative self-talk? Where does that get us – besides prolonging more of the same?

If you are anything like me (and surely I cannot be the only one!) and have had regular ‘beat up’ sessions in the past.

Here are 6 reasons that might make some sense….and help us all skip that crap, have a good laugh instead (get those Happy Pheromones floating around) and find the fast track to the right solution – a definite plus for our business and the people around us.

1. Saves Time AND Money!

Let’s face it: the longer we stay focused on what went wrong or what didn’t happen, the more time we waste. By all means, reflect on the mistake, find out the what, why, and how and take actions to change, but be proactive about it.

The longer we stay ‘stuck’ in the coulda, shoulda, woulda, we take ourselves ‘out of the game’, we focus on the wrong things, it affects our workflow, productivity and the people around us (really…who wants to be around someone who is scowling, frowning, ranting or raving)! Let’s not forget our precious clients – if you are stuck in ‘beat up’ mode, do you think they will want to be around you or do business with you?

Keep your Focus, stay in the game, identify how to fix it and take action (full stop!).

2. Opportunity to Build a “Sticky” Team

Every mistake is an opportunity to learn… sure – mistakes suck, but there is always a lesson.

How many times did you fall off your bike before you learned how to keep your balance?? Yep, scraped knees, elbows and bruised egos happened…but we got over it…and that is the only way we learned! Things are still the same, only the lessons are different.

When we are presented with a lesson, it is a great opportunity to bring your team together, get feedback and ideas, and find solutions together…and this is where the magic happens!

When we include the team, we show that their opinions and experiences are valued and that they are part of the group….not just the backup vocals! On a psychological level, when we practice ‘inclusivity’ we are feeding the fundamental survival need to ‘belong’; we all need that sense of belonging to give us security.

3. Guilt is ‘Heavy Man’

Blah…guilt, feeling guilty is like dragging your feet in the mud!

Who wants to feel like that? Too often, we are the biggest culprits in laying the guilt trip on ourselves. Have you ever listened to your self-talk when this happens? ‘Idiot, stupid, dumb ass’…not conducive to high-level productivity and solutions, right... yet this is what we do to ourselves. STOP!!! We are none of those things….we are Human. We make Mistakes.

What we do or how we handle our mistakes is the clincher; making yourself feel guilty is selfish! Yep – it takes you out of the game; you stop contributing to the team and waste time and energy instead. Here’s the easy answer (and YES – it IS easy if you choose to do this)…Just Skip It!

Acknowledge the mistake, accept responsibility for it (by the by…when you do accept responsibility, it takes the place of supposed guilt), and concentrate on how to fix it instead. It is way more productive and allows you to still feel okay about yourself (which you should), and gets everyone back on track faster.

4. The ‘Human’ Factor

Have you met this person?

They never make a mistake (it is probably someone else’s fault, right?), they frown upon everyone else’s mistakes, they may be a bit up themselves (yes, I did write that!), and they always seem to come out on top. Have you met anyone even remotely like this?

Chances are you have. Question: How did this person make you feel? Ahhhh!

Here’s the thing…. we all make mistakes; this is what makes us human; this is what makes us ‘relatable’ – it is one thing we all have in common! So, celebrate your mistakes; not only do you shift your focus into ‘productive mode’ a lot faster, but you are demonstrating to your peers, friends, colleagues, and family – that is okay! And that is Massive – because you are ‘telling’ them that ‘they’ are okay too!!!!

5. Massive Confidence Booster!

Everyone says, ‘Celebrate All Wins’ (and if you don’t, you should); but the real magic is learning to Celebrate Your Mistakes! For all of the reasons above, of course, but even more importantly – if you do this (and it is a learning ‘process’ that will take time…maybe the rest of your life)….your Self-confidence will skyrocket because you are training your mind (those voices in your head) that you are okay – actually you are Great – FABulous – BRILLIANT!

Creating this mindset keeps you “in the game”, focused, moving forward, someone who accepts themselves AND accepts others…and that is the Winning Formula for life.