Thursday 17 April 2008

To Err Is Human (My Stupid Mistakes)


Life doesn't always go in a straight line. Making mistakes is part of the game. Some are inevitable and we just have to accept them and make the best of them. But some could have been prevented, which only proves that we didn't learn from our earlier mistakes.

A friend told me about a very special list, a personal accounting of every mistake he made."To make mistakes is normal," he said, "but to make the same mistake twice is inexcusable."

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.- George Santayana

Mistakes are painful when they happen, but years later a collection of mistakes is what is called experience.- Denis Whitley

I liked the idea and immediately adapted his system. That was many years ago and my list has grown to a respectable size! It contains documents and jottings about all the mistakes, the misjudgments, and the stupid decisions I have made.

Being reminded of past mistakes is unpleasant, but I do go through the folder periodically in order to prevent myself from repeating them. It’s a difficult but very effective way to learn. Have you ever thought of making a list of your mistakes? Try it!

Something to share …..

What’s a great idea! Keep a list of our mistakes as days go by for periodical review as we move on in life. To me, “a collection of mistakes” should be known as bitter experiences.

We have been taught, “To err is human.” It’s normal to make mistakes. Otherwise, we will never learn. But it’s just stupid of us to repeat the same mistakes. That’s what team members always being reminded by their team leader.

Inexcusable. Why not?

Well, there is still a tendency of making the same mistakes again if we do not keep a list of our mistakes reminding us not to repeat them. Question is whether we are able to excuse ourselves for such stupidity?

Don’t blame others. Don’t blame your superior. Blame your ownself if you have never learned but appear stupid of committing the same mistakes over and over gain.

On the other hand, we should have learned from our past mistakes and bitter experiences as we move on our career path. We become much wiser in making good judgments and right decisions. The end results are always sweet out of job satisfaction.

Don’t you think so?