Career Truth: I Never Make Mistakes

I have been working with the concept that there are no mistakes.

If you know me, you know that I have said the phrase, “Everything is happening for my/your benefit” more than once.

My heart believes this idea. My head cannot seem to get on board.

Like today, when I sent an email to a job seeker forgetting to remove the whole line of conversation that went on between me and the client before sending. This included how much we would be charging the client. Not info we usually share with the job seekers.

Sh*t!

I immediately said, “That was a big mistake.”

Then, I thought that this was a perfect situation to put my belief system to the test.

How might this not be a mistake but an OOPSortunity instead?

Enter the Land of No Mistakes

If I truly believe that there are no mistakes, then I needed to ask myself how sending an email to the candidate with more information than I would normally share was an opportunity – not an oops.

Not an easy task. I was feeling upset with myself, embarrassed and regretful. All feelings a person typically has when they have judged something as a “mistake”.

I realized I needed to coach myself into the Land of No Mistakes. Here is what I did:

I sat back in my chair, closed my eyes and slowed down my breathing. I needed to shift my energy out of fear and into peace. That always opens up access to Divine Wisdom.
I asked myself, “How would this not be a mistake? How might it be an opportunity instead?”
I waited for the reply which was, “In the future, remember to slow down to make sure that what you are emailing is what you want to email to someone”. Good advice.
Then another reply: “This was you being fully transparent.” Ahh. Now that is Divine Wisdom at it’s best. It is true. Normally, I do not share bill rate information with candidates. But that is not a mistake…just a choice. There is nothing wrong with sharing this information with the candidate. They know that I am charging for my services and paying them out of what I charge. No secret. Being fully transparent feels like being in full integrity. Being in full integrity is how I want to live my life. Thanks to my oops, I had an opportunity to do just that.

I have spoken to many people after interviews who wished they had said something in a different way, forgot to send a thank-you note, or wondered if they asked for too much money. Then, they beat themselves up for these choices.

As I went through the steps above, I felt better. Approaching things as OOPSortunities changed how I treated myself, and I am sure this also impacts how I treat others as well.

Just maybe…there are no mistakes. Everything really is for our benefit. Whatever happens as a result of a choice we make is simply there to teach us, grow us and love us.

Say it loud and say it proud!

“I never make mistakes, just the occasional OOPSortunity.“