Opportunity or Failure

You will agree with me that to learn, it is necessary to practice what has been learned. And in this process, error arises simultaneously and naturally.

Learning involves exploring, inquiring, doing, and encountering error a thousand times. Moreover, if this didn't happen, we wouldn't be learning.

Error, that cursed word in today's society, tremendously result-oriented. It penalizes error, sees it as an obstacle, which leads us to hide it, even not to acknowledge it.

And the issue is that we make mistakes not only when facing new things and learning; there are also errors in day-to-day life. They happen for different reasons, from fatigue, lack of attention, doubt, and sometimes even apathy, and our stance is the same—to not acknowledge or hide it to alleviate the feeling of guilt it produces.

And what consequences is this generating in our daily lives and the society we live in?

From my point of view, when you understand that error equals failure (as we have learned), one of the most limiting emotions arises: fear. And this leads you to decide not to explore and stay as you are: "dear God, let me stay as I am," which anchors you to the so-called comfort zone. Here, the results will be the same as always because you will do the same as always. And therefore, there is no learning and no change in the result.

When your mindset, on the other hand, associates error with a learning opportunity, it generates a more adventurous energy in you, showing you new options and places where you will make mistakes, but from this attitude, you will know how to take advantage of the learning it offers. What a big difference!

If your mind thinks that error equals failure, you will avoid making mistakes at all costs. And if it happens, you will use a thousand tricks to avoid it: you will look for justifications, hide it, trying to make sure no one finds out, even not accept having erred.

If error = opportunity, it will allow you not to feel guilty and to seek what lesson it brings: evaluate the causes and take measures that help you avoid it in the future.

If we analyze in more detail the emotionality that arises from one thought or another, we appreciate the differences. Failure entails fear, tension, anger, blockage… which prevents you from enjoying and makes your experience more uphill.

If you see it as an opportunity, it generates more expansive emotions like courage, confidence, excitement, or even joy.

I also believe this has a lot to do with how we evaluate others' errors. If you think it is a failure, you will very likely judge that the other person is not paying enough attention, is not committed, is irresponsible (which of course is a possibility, but there are also others: they are learning, have doubts, are exploring and inquiring new ways to achieve such a result).

These evaluations about the other, which translate into daily actions, logically generate in the collaborator the opposite of what you expect: disengagement, waiting for instructions (to avoid making mistakes), hiding errors (therefore without learning), justifying them, or blaming others.