I’ve always had a weird resistance come up when someone says, “Mistakes are good. You can learn from them”.

Not that I do not embrace learning. I am an avid reader and Googler. I have a strong curiosity and desire to understand things. I am not afraid of learning. In fact, I carve it.

So why would I feel this clenching in my stomach when I considered learning from my mistakes?  Am I afraid to be wrong? Am I being controlling? Do I have a fear of failing? Am I afraid to look bad to others?

It wasn’t until I read a simple phrase in a book that I fully understood where my weird resistance was coming from.

The Phrase That Pays

The phrase was just two simple words:  Experience Learning

I realized that the reason I never liked the idea that I should be learning from my mistakes was because I somehow felt I was setting up a self-fulfilling prophecy – a bad cycle of having to make continual mistakes in order to learn and grow.

By approaching each day with the feeling that I am experiencing learning means that I can make mistakes as part of the process of growing versus waiting for the mistakes to occur in order to learn and grow from them.

It might seem like a subtle shift but, for me, it has made a ton of difference. The idea that I can live every day from a place that I am experiencing learning feels like freedom.

  • I feel less afraid to take risks because the risk is an opportunity to experience learning.
  • I feel excited about making mistakes because they are part of the process of experiencing learning.
  • There is no guilt and shame in the process of experiencing learning.

Are you ready to experience learning what might be possible for your next career move knowing there are no mistakes? Let’s schedule a Career Strategy Session!

 

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Experiential Learning: How We All Learn Naturally