The worst mistake anyone can make is being too afraid to make one....

"I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that wont work."
-Thomas Edison

I think it's a shame that so many people go through their lives being afraid to mess up. Let's be honest, no one wants to feel like a failure. It is in our nature as human beings to want to receive praise and to make other people close to us proud. But would it be possible for us to even feel these things if we didn't know what it was like to make a mistake? I've always maintained the belief that without mistakes, errors and poor decisions, the world would experience very little progress at all.

People need to have hopes, dreams and goals. As a person begins to take action toward the fulfillment of these goals and dreams, they have to realize that not every action will be perfect. Not every action will produce the desired result. Making mistakes, getting it almost right and experimenting to see what happens, are all part of the process of eventually getting it right.
Can you imagine if a toddler gave up the very first time they fell when trying to walk?

Perhaps the problem is not making mistakes, but what you tell yourself when you do make one. This depends on your "rule" for making mistakes. We all have "rules" for living that we learned early in life and apply to our daily experiences. Since we live in an achievement and success oriented world we are often taught the rule, "Whenever you do anything, do it right" or the similar rule "Anything worth doing is worth doing right". Our parents, teachers, coaches and friends all have an impact on the rules we learn. If we learn the rule that I have just described, we become perfectionists and don't like mistakes. Mistakes are viewed as bad, and something to be avoided. What then happens to the individuals that discover that they are unable to be perfect? Every mistake that they make is interpreted as a flaw in their character, which then becomes internalized. Whether the mistake is big or small, the voice of conscious inside that person's head will sound a bit like this: "Look what you did! What is wrong with you? Can't you do anything right? You will never learn. Why don't you just give up?" This person, understandably, becomes sad, angry and frustrated. The act of the mistake has now become translated and their behavior and mood will reflect this. The person has actually created this link unintentionally as a result of the inner dialogue which contained name calling and criticism.

It has been said that only those who are asleep make no mistakes. Making mistakes is part of being human, and I think a very large percentage of the world fails to see the value in not getting something right the first time. So what should you say to yourself the next time you make a mistake? Try something like: "Great! Wonderful! Now I can learn something." If you start saying more positive things to yourself, you will be energized and feel excited. There will be motivation for the next challenge. The "rule" I mentioned previously may have been good to keep you out of trouble when you were 6 years old, but it is not doing you any good right now. The rule needs to change. You need to understand that you have a lot more control over your actions and which direction your mistakes will take you. Ralph Nader once said, "Your best teacher is your last mistake." Mistakes should be viewed as a good thing. If something is not perfect the first time around, that's fine, make adjustments and try again. If a person is too afraid to make a mistake, how will they ever reach their potential? They will only settle for doing the things that they know they have mastered and they will never grow. They do not want to hear the voice in their head telling them that they are "no good", so they will avoid it by only doing things they are sure will not result in a mistake. Being too afraid to make a mistake is the worst mistake anyone can make.

Remember this the next time someone near you makes the wrong decision. Be there to tell them how great it is that they are trying to accomplish something, and that their mistake has only helped them on their way to fulfilling their goal or dream.