Mistakes are part of human nature. Some are trivial, some major. Life can be so fickle and what may seem concrete, fleeting. The point is that you learn from them, right? For the most part that’s easier said than done. You find yourself pacing up and down, racking your brains to try and figure out where and when it went wrong. The truth is you can’t change what has already happened. All you can do is acknowledge the error, take as much value as you can from it by admitting it, taking it in your stride and then moving on. In the wise words of Shantideva, “Why worry if you can do something about it; and why worry if you cannot do anything about it.”
In a professional working environment, it is important to establish a strong and spirited support structure. Instead of condemning your employees or colleagues for their slip-ups, rather encourage them to highlight their faults to establish what can be gained, on a personal level and collectively. This will lay the foundations to a highly collaborative, honest and healthy company culture.
At Outsourcery & PrimePixels we have a really fun and productive weekly incentive called “Mistake of The Week” where the whole team gets together and someone is nominated based on a blunder they made. They then must announce it in front of the whole office for the purpose of growth. Naturally, everyone has a bit of a laugh but then advice is offered to the individual, and a constructive discussion is held on how to avoid it in the future. The team member is then rewarded with a gift voucher of their choice. Seems like a pretty sweet deal, doesn’t it? Obviously, you can’t just be picking up vouchers left, right and centre because then you’d probably be without a job!
This type of technique can prove very useful and mistakes can help you be more successful if gone about in the right way. There are some great ways in which to gain and deal with the errors you make.
Mistakes encourage us to take positive risks:
With failure comes fearlessness. You can’t perfect or master something without shortcomings. That’s the way it works. You keep trying, it’s the fundamental way in which humans learn. The beautiful part about it is that during the learning process, with each level you reach, you gain more confidence. Confidence brings belief. The belief to overcome and that’s when you end up taking meaningful risks. The type of gamble that could bring about your dream job or a much-desired promotion, and when something like that happens, you become illuminated. Which can only ever be a good thing.
Don’t dwell on your mistakes:
We often spend too much time regretting our mistakes, mulling them over and worrying what others may think. This way of dealing with miscalculations can prove toxic, will only decrease your self-confidence and within a working environment, most likely rub off on the rest of your team. Try to see mistakes a positive, transformative power in your life.
Becoming experienced though mistakes:
If you’ve fumbled before and are faced with a familiar challenge, you’ll know what to do. That’s not to say you won’t make the same error twice but you’ll definitely be more prepared and could possibly avoid being faced with a similar challenge in the future, altogether. There is unfathomable value in experience. Especially within a team working for the same end goal. Experience doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with age either. You could find that someone a lot younger than you might have a wealth of experience in a scenario you’re currently faced with. Mistakes really are the basis of learning and learning the basis of our evolution.
A Virtual PA can assist in dealing with mistakes:
Sometimes the aftermath of an oversite or fault on your behalf can cause a knock-on effect. You’ve made your apologies, made your peace, embraced it and need to move on because you’ve got a deal to close in the next fifteen minutes. Hiring a Virtual PA can prove indispensable in situations like this by emailing on your behalf, help with brainstorming solutions on how to solve the problem. Being there for you when you most need it. They can help put together strategies on how to avoid and deal with similar scenarios in the future, prepare for certain reactions. You don’t necessarily have to bear the brunt all on your own.
Maybe it’s the lack of time on your hands that causes you to make simple slip-ups like not responding to certain emails because you’re inundated and you’re only human. Or the fact that there’s only one of you and there’s no possible way you can attend to family issues and work issues effectively, and with an equal amount of vigour because of prioritisation. A virtual assistant is the answer. See for yourself.
