Mistakes are quite a misunderstood concept. Throughout your life, especially in high school, you’re taught to avoid mistakes. Why? Because shortcomings are perceived as a measurement of your intellectual ability. In reality, having this mindset is not productive and completely false. It can be detrimental towards your journey to success as it can cloud any opportunity for growth and self-development. Instead, you should recognize that mistakes are essential and view them for what they really are — learning experiences. Not convinced? Here are some other benefits of making mistakes:
- Help You Grow
Slipping up is a key factor to helping develop yourself. You had to learn somehow that going out the night before a test isn’t the smartest move. Copying your friend’s homework during lunch isn’t the brightest idea, considering you’re having a hard time with the lesson. One way or another, you had to learn. There’s nothing quite as effective as learning first-hand that something is a mistake. Students should be urged to embrace their mistakes because it contributes heavily towards their self-development.
- You Can Afford It
Being a teenager, you have plenty of time to make mistakes. Embracing your shortcomings at this age allows you more time to recover and learn. Would you rather run trial and error tests to find your best study habits later in life when you’re halfway into your college career, or now, while in high school? Obviously, the latter because you can take that knowledge in high school with you into college and beyond. Let’s say you decided to make a shoe company in your sophomore year of high school. A year later, it failed. No big deal, it was a learning experience, right? And being young, you have plenty of time to recover. Take advantage of your longer time horizon and don’t be afraid to make mistakes while you can afford them.
- Not Limited By Fear
When you understand that mistakes help you grow and are affordable, you will no longer be paralyzed by the fear of making mistakes. Your slip-ups should no longer be seen as obstacles, but learning tools. When your fear of mistakes is diminished, you also become more confident in yourself. This allows you to understand what you do incorrectly and remedy it. By doing this, you’re allowing yourself to expand upon your knowledge in a productive manner.