Perfectionist is my middle name. If something isn't done to my exact liking, it stresses me out. But then again, a lot of things stress me out. I wish I was a “go with the flow” kinda gal but I’m not. I aim for the stars and if I don't get to the exact one I was aiming for, I’m disappointed. I don't like to settle. I refuse to settle. I know what I want and I know how to get it, or at least I think I do. I hate taking people’s words of advice if I don't fully agree with them. No, I wouldn't call that ignorance. I will listen to their advice, fully listen. I will consider it in the context of my situation and my own opinion. But, I also value my own opinion very highly and I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. They could be one hundred percent right but personally, I would rather do it myself and fail. This is both good and bad; good because it gives me more life experiences that I can learn from and bad because you will fail sometimes.
Mistakes have been made. Mistakes will be made. It’s inevitable. Even if you wouldn't refer to yourself as a perfectionist, I feel like there is a little part of you that is annoyed, for lack of a better word, when something doesn't play out the way you envisioned it to. Mistakes help us grow. No. They MAKE us grow. We have the choice to move on from our mistakes and learn from them or sulk. Don't sulk. As someone who gets extremely disappointed when she makes a mistake, I try to stop myself and realize that these mistakes will turn out okay. Everyone makes mistakes, everyone fails sometimes. If you think you don’t, you're lying to yourself. I’ve come to appreciate myself making mistakes because I know what to do after I make a mistake. I won’t sulk. It’s extremely hard not to sulk, I’m talking to you, college kids. We’re expected to have a four year plan, we’re expected to know what we want to do with our lives, we’re expected to know why we want to do what we think we want to do and not in some “cliche” answer like “I want to help people”.
Instead of sulking, think about the mistake. Yes, really think about it. Don't overthink(another one of my specialties). Try to figure out what the mistake was, where you went wrong, what you could have done better(both in that specific situation as well as in future situations) and finally, come up with a game plan for what you’ll do now that whatever it is didn't work out.
Just recently, I had found myself making a big mistake, one that had a domino effect of setbacks that came along with it. I sulked. I sulked a lot. But, then I did some casual overthinking which inevitably turned into more of a self-reflection. I cleared my mind and came up with a solution. I looked at where I went wrong, and why I made the mistake that I did. It required a lot more analyzing as it was a bigger mistake. It was frustrating because I couldn't fully fix the mistake in a day, week or even a month. But I came up with a game plan and followed through. I still haven't fully fixed my mistake and in all honesty, I never will; however, soon I will be able to say that I learned from my mistake and have corrected it to the best of my ability. Not only that, but gaining the experiences that I have gained are ones that I will always be grateful for.
Learning from your mistakes is vital to you moving on and succeeding. You've probably heard that so many times. And guess what? You’re going to keep hearing it. Think about it. If you never made mistakes, then you would approach situations as if you were the first time. No experience would be made. You wouldn't have the little voice in your heard reminding you of that time you were in the EXACT situation and should've done something differently. Then that brings the question of “does that hinder new experiences?” and I would say it is your choice. You can make choices that could hold you back, but it’s YOUR choice. If you live your life with the fear of making mistakes and the fear of failing sometimes, then that is just as bad, if not worse, than not learning from your mistakes.
Make mistakes. Learn from them. Better yourself.
