How to Make Mistakes

Have you ever told someone they “eat like a
bird”? You meant that they picked at their
food and didn’t eat very much. (I’ve been
called a “bird brain”, but that’s another
matter entirely) Are you aware, however,
what a big mistake it is to make this
comparison? I’ll explain why in a moment…

Last week we discussed the importance of
welcoming your mistakes. Sweeping your
mistakes under the rug fools no one but
you. You reinforce the horribly incorrect
paradigm that you are wrong to make
mistakes - that you shouldn’t make them. You
already know that you are perfectly
imperfect; you were born to make mistakes. So
why beat yourself up over something you
are meant to do?

Better to learn to use your innate
inclination to make mistakes. Take those
lemons and make lemonade.

Do you ever wish you’d stop making
mistakes? Why? Not making mistakes would
make you a robot. Your ability to make
mistakes makes you human; it gives you free
will because you have the power to do
things “wrong.”

I don’t know about you, but I love my free
will and my humanity. Not that you actually
have this choice, but you’d have to trade
your free will to attain mistake-free
living. I wouldn’t exchange my life of
unlimited possibility and opportunity for
cookie-cutter perfection.

So how do you stop beating yourself up for
your mistakes and start welcoming them? How
do you develop a lasting paradigm which
equates making mistakes with living a full
and adventurous life? How do you free
yourself from the bondage of fearing your
mistakes and emulate the great achievers of
humankind, who welcome their mistakes with
gusto?

Great questions! Here are three simple, yet
powerful, actions steps to get you started:

1. Learn to regard your mistakes as
tangible assets. What wonderful
opportunities to grow and change await you
with your first mistake today! Wait for
that first mistake with baited breath and
welcome it with enthusiasm because it holds
a golden kernel of victory – a message for a
better life!

2. Don’t try to hide your mistakes. You
are going to notice some changes
accompanying your new attitude toward your
mistakes. As you waste less energy trying
to hide them as they occur, you have more
energy for learning from your experiences!

3. Be like Babe Ruth and swing for the
fences. Babe Ruth struck out twice as often
as he hit home runs, but so what? People
remember his homers. Use your increased
energy level to try new spontaneous and
creative things. You will make more
mistakes as you take more risks, but so
what? People will remember your success
(and admire your courage).

One more thing: an important side benefit of
welcoming your mistakes is that they are
entertaining, which adds to your thirty
minutes of fun today. Remember Carol
Burnett’s definition of comedy is “tragedy
plus time.” While there is nothing funny
about pain and disappointment, you can
always find humor in your unrealistic
expectations of mistake-free perfectionism.

You can shake your head and gently laugh
with yourself, instead of beating yourself
up, when you make your mistakes today!

The more you are able to laugh with yourself
about your mistakes, the more you will treat
them lightly enough to quickly learn from
them. And, of course, the more you are able
to quickly learn from your mistakes, the
more you’ll be able to take them lightly
enough to be entertained by them. Before
long, you’ll be confident enough to join me
in making mistakes on purpose – just for the
entertainment value!

And about those birds… Birds eat a
tremendous amount each day, much more than
you and me. Adult birds eat one quarter to
one half their body weight each day. And,
because their metabolism is even higher,
baby birds usually eat their body weight
worth of food each day! Who knew?

But, of course, if you’ve made the mistake
of telling a picky eater that she eats like
a bird, who cares? Your mistake was
humorous and educational at the same time! Now
you know the real story behind “eating
like a bird.”

Soon you’ll be treating all your mistakes
this lightly and, when that happens, you
won’t be eating like a bird -you’ll be
soaring like one!

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Some Humor for the Week

"I asked my wife, ‘On a scale of one to ten,
how do you rate me as a lover?’ She
said, ‘You know I’m no good at fractions!’"
Rodney Dangerfield