Mistakes are a part of life. Successful people acknowledge theirs, learn from them, and work to correct them. A study of 105 executives identified some of the common characteristics that successful people share, but one in particular was found to be especially helpful: successful people tend to admit their mistakes and accept the consequences, rather than covering up or blaming others. None of us enjoy facing the consequences of our actions. When things go wrong, we naturally tend to look for someone to blame. It’s in our DNA. In the garden of Eden when God asked Adam what he had done, Adam blamed Eve. And when God questioned Eve, she blamed the devil. The next time you make a mistake, think about who’s really at fault, and try to look at it with an open mind so you can learn from it and do better next time. Somebody said the sooner you fail, the more time you have to improve. Try to ask yourself, ‘What have I learned? How can I turn this failure into success? Even though on the whole I failed, were there any parts of the task that were successful?’ People who blame others for their failures never conquer them; they just move from problem to problem without ever improving or finding a real solution. To reach your highest potential, you must persistently improve yourself, and you can’t do that if you don’t take responsibility and learn from your errors. Life will always throw up problems. The question is: will you stay down and wallow in defeat, or get back up on your feet, make the best of things, and resolve to fight another day? Henry Ford said, ‘Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.’ So, live by the Bible principle, ‘The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again’ (Proverbs 24:16 NLT). It isn’t easy, but it’s necessary if we want to grow.
