If you are alive, you are going to, from time to time, make a mistake. But it is how you use that mistake that will determine how it affects you and whether or not you are better for it. When you make mistakes, do you immediately start to put yourself down and start remembering other mistakes you have made? Do you begin comparing yourself with others and think they are better, or more qualified than you? Do you think, “I am not going to put myself out there again or ever try something totally new again”? Well first, here is the good news – you care! That’s right, if you didn’t have a certain standard set for yourself, it would not bother you at all to make any mistakes. Second, the fact that you are even having thoughts like this shows you are actually doing some serious soul searching and reflecting on why you made the mistake. Again, in principle, a good thing! But the problem comes when you stay on this initial path of thinking that there is something wrong with you, and when you continue to believe that making mistakes is exclusive to only you. Obviously, you are wrong! Read any famous autobiography, story about a famous athlete, or ask an honest successful friend, and you will find their path to success littered with mistakes.

Then how did they become so successful by making so many mistakes along the way? Undoubtedly, after making a mistake, they did the same soul searching you and I would do, but then, instead of focusing negatively on themselves, they focused their energy on the cause, learned from it, and used it to propel them forward. Successful people will tell you that they expect to make mistakes, but they do not let those mistakes hold them back. They will also tell you that success is actually a poor teacher and that many times their greatest accomplishments came in the shadow of their biggest mistakes. Here’s what some very successful people had to say about making mistakes:

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein

All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes. – Winston Churchill

The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything. – Theodore Roosevelt

Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement. – Henry Ford

Finally, successful people learn from their mistakes, but then move on. In the Bible you can find some good insight about not dwelling on your past mistakes. In Isaiah 43:18 it says: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. As I mention early in the post, successful people’s paths are littered with mistakes, they are behind them; they used them for what they were worth on the road to success, and then moved on. We should do the same!

How have you learned from your mistakes? Tell me below.