What are the mistakes saying?

Like it or not, mistakes are feedback. And they are feedback to you, and everyone else. The issue or point of content is what the feedback is about: you or your action? The circumstance or the people involved?

It just so happened that the manner by which human civilisations evolved and developed allowed us to gain more control and mastery over things in the world. And because of this agency, we tend to start attributing more things to humans, and to ourselves. We expect ourselves to be automatons, humans, perfect, rational and full of empathy all at the same time. That itself brings about a whole host of mental health issues but for today let’s just think about mistakes.

When we allow mistakes to tell us more about people, about us, than our actions, circumstances, we stop learning. We think we’re learning about people, and about ourselves when it is an opportunity to refine our approach towards things. We become emotional and allow our minds to go into drama mode and search for excuses rather than solutions.

So how do we want to get over that. First, be aware of what mistakes are saying to you. All mistakes, not just your own or that of others. Then consider directing your attention towards the circumstances and actions – looking at how they contribute to the mistakes. Consider the action to change in response to the situation. Start making a difference to your personal learning and how you influence the learning of those around you.