Fall Forward Quickly

By Gail Doby, ASID
CVO & Co-Founder, Gail Doby Coaching & Consulting & Design Success University
Photo Credit-@bakerbroductions

Any entrepreneur or small business owner will tell you, the road to success is marked with a thousand stumbles. We make mistakes. Hopefully, we learn from them. And we move on. Those who are really successful have figured out that the sooner you pick yourself and get going again, the sooner you’ll reach your goal.

Since we were young, many of us have been told or taught or chided not to make mistakes. That’s not a bad thing, if what we’re talking about is not repeating the same mistakes over and over that keep us from making real progress. Often, though, what we’re not told is that sometimes making a mistake can be the best way to learn, especially when you are venturing into something new.

Where we sometimes run into trouble is confusing making any kind of mistake with making a “dumb” mistake. That can trigger all sorts of negative associations that can undermine our confidence and impede our judgment. We end up blaming ourselves and dwelling on our presumed “inabilities” instead of taking positive action to correct the mistake and move on.

Most mistakes can be corrected or at least atoned for. And even if one can’t, it can’t be undone. No amount of fretting or chest beating is going to change that. The best thing you can do when you make a mistake is acknowledge it, try to correct it if you can, and then put it behind you as quickly as possible. Having your next success is the best remedy for getting over any feelings of guilt or inadequacy.

As the old song says, when you stumble just “pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.” Your destiny is waiting for you further down the road, not on the path you’ve already trod. Get moving.