Mess Up? The Trick to Recovering from Mistakes

What Happens After You Mess Up? 

Mistakes happen. But according to brain research it's what happens after you mess up that's really interesting.

When you mess up, how do you react?  

😊Do you problem solve and figure out how to correct your error--and ultimately bounce back from making the error? 

😢Or do you feel stupid, inept and ultimately give up?

How You Think about Your Capacity to Grow Smarter Determines Your Reaction to Mistakes

It turns out whether you believe you can grow smarter or not determines how you'll respond to the mistakes you make--i.e. whether you'll choose to learn from your mistakes or just give up.

According to a **study looking at brain activity in response to making mistakes, people who believe they can learn from their mistakes have brains that pay more attention to mistakes--and they share a belief that intelligence isn't fixed--it can be shaped (i.e. we can learn from our mistakes).

👉If you believe your intelligence can be shaped you believe 'I learn from my mistakes', 'happy mistakes are good', or 'a mistake is just a learning experience' and you take action to rectify your mistake and move on.  

👉But if you believe 'you either have the smarts or you don't' --i.e. you believe in a 'fixed intelligence'--you fail to take actions to learn from your mistakes and just give up.

'Acting As If' is the Key to Tweak Your Thoughts to Recover from Mistakes

Okay, so now you know: You hold the key to bouncing back from making mistakes in your head. If you believe you can grow smarter you can make happy mistakes and learn from them. 

But what if you're one of the people who simply believes you're not smart?  Then you Act As If--and step over the invisible belief barrier to taking action. 

When you make a mistake or error--don't think--'act as if' and take action. 

Act As If:

💓You can learn from your mistakes and grow smarter--and take action.

💙You have confidence in yourself--and take action.
💚You can correct your mistakes--and take action

💛It matters that you know the correct answer to perform better in the future--and take action.

💜You are coachable--and take action.

Beliefs Follow Actions

Why does 'acting as if ' work?  Research shows if you want to change a belief, take action. When you experience a discrepancy between what you believe and how you act, you will change your beliefs to follow your actions. 

Acting as if you can grow smarter will result in you believing you can --and improve your ability to learn from your mistakes.

Our Brains Are Wired to Make Mistakes

We all want to be the best we can be and therefore hate making mistakes and looking stupid. But our brains are wired to make mistakes so errors are going to happen. 

When you make a mistake, stop thinking how stupid you are and step into problem solving instead. Get the most out of your life--show yourself you're someone who learns from you mistakes.

Stop trying to be mistake free and start using your happy mistakes as learning experiences and growth opportunities.

 'There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.' 

The Buddha 

**Many thanks to Grant Soosalu in Australia for sharing the study in his Life Enhancing Blog. Please visit Grant's blog @  http://enhancingmylife.blogspot.com/ or check out his book  "mBraining - Using your multiple brains to do cool stuff" on Amazon.

Change Your Behavior to Change Your Belief

Free Yourself to Make Happy Mistakes

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

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