Moving on from Workplace Mistakes

“No past mistake can act as a barrier to my future progress.” --Dr. Ernest Holmes, spiritual philosopher

I ran across an article recently (which included the affirmation above) about the importance of not carrying around our past mistakes with us, whether it be in relationships, personal, or work related. It reminded me that as long as I continue to keep mistakes alive by pulling them out to review and contemplate over and over, they will continue to influence my life.

Case in point: Some years ago, a friend of mine made an error in judgment when presenting a project overview to a high-profile client. The problem stemmed from the fact that he assumed too much about them and didn’t research and customize enough. As a result, they were unhappy with some items, and along with his own team, were questioning his competency in running the project. He was able to recover and make things work to everyone’s satisfaction, but his own self confidence suffered hugely. He felt he let everyone down, including himself, and proceeded to act throughout the project as if he were not as skilled and talented as he really was. It took awhile to get past it, and he did eventually, with a clearer idea of how to handle his next project. It’s highly likely that, as time went on, he was the only who remembered and focused on that mistake and therefore was the only one still suffering from it.

Moral of the story: There’s usually a valuable lesson in there somewhere. Forgive yourself, acknowledge the lesson, wash your hands of it for once and for all, then move on. As my training partner says in many of our workshops – “there are no mistakes, just learnings”.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and essayist

As always, I welcome your comments. Please visit my website at www.LousbergUnlimited.com for information on career services.