Mistakes are a normal part of our daily lives, and it is important we recognize what we did that caused us to make those mistakes in order to learn and grow from them.
Without mistakes, there is no possible way of learning a better way to do things because just as if history would teach us, each failure would bring us one-step closer to eliminating the same mistake again.

However, it is not just a simple matter of recognizing a mistake and moving on. It's a little more than that, and the reason I say this is because unless you do nothing to reduce the mistakes, even thought you recognize what we do as a mistake, it will be repeated over and over. Therefore, an attempt is what we need to do in order to correct what causes the mistake so that it no longer occurs.

A prime example of what I am trying to convey here is like playing a musical instrument, and mine of choice was the piano. I found that when I made mistakes, I knew I was making them, and continued to play on. Each time I would sit to play, the same mistakes would happen repeatedly.

I was at a wedding, and in the hall, there was a piano, and I decided to do a little playing. After all, who could resist hitting the keys whether knowing how to play or not. Well, as I was playing, my fianc at the time remarked that she did not know I could play the piano. She then said that I was good, but she noticed that I was making mistakes. She simple suggested that I correct the mistakes at the time I first make them instead of playing through to the end of a song.

I did just that, and much to my surprise, they I was able to eliminate them one by one. It was amazing to me that I was able to increase the quality of my playing to such a degree that I would play without virtually making any more of the same mistakes I use to repeat repeatedly.

Once the "conscious" effort was made to correct upon recognizing them, it was as smooth as silk after all said and done. All it took was for someone to make me realize that if you do not learn by what causes the mistakes, you can never learn and move ahead.

This would apply to everything in general where mistakes are made. How many times do we have to hit the record button instead of play on a recorder, and then we find we ruined some of what was previously recorded.

If we made a mental note the placement of the record button is right next to the play button, and we do not want to hit the record mode, then we have to think before we just go hitting one of those buttons. Mistakes come about by not thinking about what we are doing, and if we practiced putting thought into everything we do, we eliminate the possibility of making an error. The more we think, the less we make those mistakes, and I guess the bottom line is, just like the old saying, think about what you're going to say before we put our foot in our mouth.

A thought goes a long way as prevention for constantly making mistakes, all it takes is just a little effort, nothing physical, just mental, and everything falls into place.

Learn more about this author, Richard Serra.
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