To Stumble Is Not Bad, To Get Attached To The Stone Yes

When Thomas Edison made known to the world the process by which he had created the high-resistance incandescent light bulb, after many errors and trials, he said: “ If I have done one thing in 10 thousand different ways, and it has not worked, I have not failed, because every test went wrong, it is a step forward ”. The lesson contained in Edison’s words is very important: we can fall many times and make numerous mistakes, the most important thing is always and in any case to learn.

Between 1878 and 1880, Edison elaborated at least 300 theories to develop the right incandescent light bulb, which demonstrates the importance of perseverance and the will not to give up in the face of the passage of time and to get up after falling.

Learn to stumble

Making mistakes is human, but each of them must teach us to stand up and learn from what happened. There is no point in complaining or blaming others: what is really effective is to reflect and learn the lesson. From an early age, they teach us that the best people are those who do not make mistakes; we are not told that these same successful people, to be where they are now, have made countless mistakes, one after another.

In 2011, a study was published in the journal Psychology and Aging which claimed that as we age, our brains learn more from mistakes than from successes. To reach this conclusion, learning outcomes from a trial and error test were compared with those of learning based on memory exercises. The analyzed group consisted of adults between 20 and 70 years old.

Two different learning methods were applied. One required passive learning, in which participants were given the name of a category (such as, for example, “flowers”) and a related word (such as, for example, “rose”); the other was a “trial and error” type test, in which participants were given a category, but had to guess the word related to it.

It was deduced that older individuals remembered keywords better if they had learned them by means of the “trial and error” method.

This explains why older people experience a gradual reduction in memory due to advancing age, so they memorize better through the “trial and error” method, since, in this way, they have to make associations that require more work on their part. of the brain.

The shadow of perfectionism

There are people who are unable to admit their mistakes, who are so demanding with themselves and with others, that every mistake is seen as a real defeat. Perfectionism, up to a point, can be a virtue, especially when it comes to really important tasks; however, it can become harmful if, every time you spot a mistake, you are overly blamed.

To avoid perfectionism, we must accept ourselves and assimilate the idea that goals are flexible, as they must adapt to cope with any changing conditions. It does not mean that we must abandon our goals, but that it is necessary to see them with realism and understand that, to reach them, we can take different paths.

An important aspect to be able to accept the reality that surrounds us has to do with the celebration of successes. If we do nothing but chastise ourselves, forgetting one mistake only when we make another, we will miss all our triumphs.

Don’t be attached to the stone that made you stumble

Every mistake is a lesson, but it is necessary to avoid repeating the same mistake, that is to continually stumble on the same stone, because it would mean that we are neither advancing nor learning. It is recommended that we examine our conscience and ask ourselves questions every time we face situations similar to past moments in which we have made mistakes:

• What were the negative consequences of the mistake?
• Is it worth it to behave in the same way, running the risk of making the same mistake again?
• Is it possible to act differently?

The answers to these questions will help you a lot when you are in doubt about how to proceed and, this time, you will not be wrong!