Making Mistakes
by Randy Gage
What does it take to admit you’re wrong or made a mistake? And how often do you do that?
Last post I made a confession and admitted to being arrogant and stupid. Kind of wondered what the reaction would be, but felt the message needed to be said. The result: it was the most popular post on the blog in at least three or four years.
As I look back on my life thus far, I notice an interesting scenario. I used to never be wrong. I could win every argument to justify why I was right. But this was really the result of a couple other dynamics. First, I’m a great debater and think well on my feet. More importantly, I was extremely insecure, with very low self-esteem. When you’re insecure like that, you’re afraid to admit to ever being wrong about anything. And that fear will cause you to find ways to justify and validate everything you do. You personalize everything and so if someone suggests you’re wrong about anything, you take it as an attack on your character. Someone once said of me, “Randy is unfulfilled if he’s right, he must also demand that you’re wrong.”
A funny thing happened…
As I grew my self-esteem, I noticed that sometimes I was wrong, and had no trouble admitting to it. I could recognize when I made a mistake and even apologize when appropriate. Once you develop healthy self-esteem, you can separate yourself from ideas or information and process them rationally and objectively. You can ever change your mind about things.
The person who doesn’t make mistakes doesn’t make anything. When you allow mistakes to happen, you learn and grow. The person waiting to do something until they can do it perfectly, ends up living a life of mediocrity.
Any lessons here for you?
-RG
Originally published at https://www.randygage.com on May 25, 2020.
