“THE ONLY PERSON WHO NEVER MAKES A MISTAKE IS THE PERSON WHO NEVER DOES ANYTHING.” ~THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Why is it that we get so hung up on the mistakes we make? Or even sometimes on the mistakes that others make around us. What is this notion that somehow resides inside us that has convinced us that mistakes are bad? How have we learned to have no compassion for ourselves and others?

I hear this lack of compassion from my coaching clients – they beat themselves mercilessly and sometimes beat those around them as well. I hear this lack of compassion from angry drivers, impatient store customers, supervisors, direct reports. We quickly throw around blame – of ourselves and others – when someone makes “A MISTAKE.”

The only people who don’t make mistakes are those who do nothing. Just by putting ourselves out there, by trying new things, by involving ourselves in the world… we are setting ourselves up to make mistakes. And if we don’t make mistakes, we’re probably not doing anything at all.

Ready to learn from your mistakes more effectively?