Mistakes are inevitable. Learn to forgive yourself more.

Let me start off with the obvious: everyone makes mistakes. The mistakes you make throughout your life do not define you. How you cope and deal with those mistakes, however, will eventually impact your life one way or another. So choose wisely. The same hot water that hardens the egg, softens the pasta after all.

You're not a robot so realistic expectations are that you're prone to human error at some point in your life; may it be small or monumental. The first step is acknowledgment. Acknowledging your mistake for what it is and what repercussions come with it is important for the next step, which is accountability. It is only when you are accountable for your mistakes that you are able to open yourself up to the learnings that come with the repercussions. So now that you've acknowledged that you've made a mistake and held yourself accountable, where does that now lead you? This is where introspection comes to play.

Introspection, by definition, is the process of examining your thoughts and feelings. What led you to make that mistake? What were the repercussions of that mistake to you and to others? How did making a mistake make you feel? How do you deal with those feelings? How do you avoid making the same mistake again? What if you make the same mistake despite knowing better? All these questions are important, but the answers to these will vary from person to person.

And however insightful, introspection alone is not enough. It must go hand in hand with a constructive feedback loop. This is where a mentor with an infinite mindset comes in handy. Someone who can guide you by giving you consistent and real-time feedback while celebrating your wins at the same time. Once you open yourself to the learnings from your introspection and feedback, you are opening yourself up to infinite possibilities on the practical applications of those learnings.

That said, there's one more factor that we need to be conscious of, which is time. We must allow ourselves some leeway to internalize the learnings we've gained from our mistakes enough for it to seep in our bones and marrow that it becomes second nature to us. That when faced with a situation that calls for it, we no longer make the same mistakes. Instead, we are able to apply our previous learnings.

Last but not least, we must not forget kindness, especially to ourselves. We are bound to make mistakes despite our best efforts and that's okay. Sometimes we encounter demotivation and dissatisfaction because we end up being our own harshest critics. My take on that is that we must never forget that we are only human, that we must practice the same kindness that we give to others and give it to ourselves in return.

And as William Ernest Henley would say, you are the master of your fate. In hot water, you can choose to be hardened as an egg or softened as pasta. Either way, you decide.