3 Ways to Get Over Mistakes in the Workplace
Nearly everyone will tell you that they’ve made some big ones. In the moment it might feel like all hope is lost. How do you get over mistakes?
We can often see two sides or two camps.
The first camp is the camp where you feel like all hope is lost. You feel like you will never recover from this one, or that you’ll be blacklisted forever.
The other camp is the camp where you really don’t recognize the severity. You down play it, or you blame someone else. If you think you might be in this camp, carefully self-assess.
Recognize and Accept
We often hear things like, “Learn from your mistakes,” or “it wasn’t your fault.” We certainly should be asking ourselves what we can learn. Often blame is not important or is irrelevant, think more about what happens next or now.
If you recognize that you’ve made a big mistake, you might first remember you are not alone. There are others in your camp.
How do you get over mistakes?
Here are a few things that might be important to keep in mind:
- Beating yourself up really isn’t going to do much good. Certainly, we should recognize the error and take any corrective action seriously, but continuing to beat yourself up about it will not change the situation.
- Focus on what you will do different the next time. It might mean keeping quiet and being patient. It might mean you need some additional skills. Perhaps it means that now you are fully armed and more capable than ever before to get the job done.
- Recover as quickly as possible by focusing on moving forward. Reliving the mistake for learning purposes is okay, reliving to keep the mistake alive is probably not productive. Move forward, you’re going to do better work now.
Get Over Mistakes
One of the most interesting points to remember about mistakes is that those who have made them and have learned how to improve are perhaps better than those who never made them at all.
Do better. Get over it. Move on.
– DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
