I have made my fair share of mistakes on my hunt for success. We all make mistakes, every last one of us. I’d bet some of you keep track of every mistake, a running tally following you into every endeavor. Mistakes are hard to let go; they cling like burrs. But even the most successful hunter wanders off course and into a bramble now and then. Like burrs, mistakes can be pulled off and tossed away, leaving behind only a reminder not to walk that way again.
The process of making and recovering from mistakes is a valuable learning tool; it’s not that we make mistakes: it’s what we do afterwards that defines us. My father, a proven business leader and philosopher, taught me to deal with my mistakes with these three questions. They may seem simple and logical to you. But at 3am when my mind is chasing a particular mistake around like a flyaway arrow, these questions always help me put my mistakes to bed and get some sleep.
1) Did you mean it, to hurt or to harm, or was it an honest mistake?
2) Can you fix it? (Then fix it.)
3) Did you learn something that can help you in the future?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be human. We are a collection of our experiences. It’s what we do with them that keep us moving toward success. And as we are all hunters, we know what it means to trek down the wrong path or make a bad call. Hunters pick up their gear and move on to hunt another day, using that information to be better hunters.
So no matter how hard you have to work to get back on solid ground after a mistake, stay out of victim mode. By maintaining your authenticity, you can stay cool and lead. Own your mistakes, talk through the issues and get through the muck. Then shut up about what went wrong, get you back on track, hunting down your desired outcomes.
