No Mistakes: Only Opportunities.

We all make mistakes in our life. In fact, mistakes are a part of the human experience. I can argue that without mistakes, we would not have evolved into the world we live in today. However, there are negative connotations to the term mitske. A mistake implies a bad consequence occurs as a result of our actions. We may not mean to have made the decision we did, but the consequences of that decision will weigh on us regardless of our intentions.

But what if I told you that we do not make mistakes? What if instead, all of our mistakes were decisions we made with the best information and intentions possible at that moment? Finally, what if our mistakes were merely opportunities

The truth is, we determine if we make a mistake or not. We can view mistakes as a negative thing, as something we beat ourselves up for. We may never live down our mistakes if we allow them to weigh us down. However, we have the choice to think of our decisions as mistakes. While it may be very difficult, we can view our mistakes as opportunities for growth and learning. Opportunities weigh far less on us mentally, and give us the relief of the guilt and shame we associate with our mistakes.

If this seems impossible for you; trust me, you are not alone! I still struggle with this idea on a daily basis. It is a very tough concept to grasp for most people. After all, how can we not make mistakes if we have been programmed our entire lives to assume we have?

But we can change this mindset if it serves us to do so. In fact, you sometimes see examples of this when people have seemingly negative life-changing experiences happen to them. An example would be someone I know who has chronic pain due to a “mistake” made by a surgeon during an operation. She subsequently gave up her career practicing medicine as a result of her pain condition. She eventually saw the experience as an opportunity to change her life in a positive way, and is in the process of becoming a life coach herself.

Inspiring stories like this made me want to start revisiting my past mistakes as opportunities to help me grow into the person I am today. It was not a ‘mistake’ to have been working in insurance for 7 years, as it gave me the opportunity to find a career I am truly passionate about in coaching. If I can do it, so can you! What “mistakes” can you turn into opportunities?

My advice would be to start small. Find what minor “mistakes” you made recently, and see if you can come up with the opportunities that have come from them. You may find that your stored guilt and shame over those mistakes will start to have less power over you!