Everyone makes mistakes. What separates people isn't that they made a mistake, it's what they do once they realize. You can own the failure and work to fix it, or you can reach for an excuse and pin the outcome on something else. I've watched both play out, in myself and in the people around me, and the choice says more about a person than the mistake ever could.

Take or Abdicate?

When you're confronted with doing something wrong you have two choices. First, you can take responsibility and work to correct the error. This is the harder path and means you have to be honest with yourself and others about your failings. The benefit is that this path builds integrity. Even when you've made a big mistake, people respect you after when you're honest about it.

The second, and the one I see far too often, is to come up with some other reason that the mistake happened and abdicate your responsibility for the outcome. You didn't get your chores done because someone else was in the way. This one leaves your self-conception of perfection intact, but the people around you who rely on you realize that you're not reliable and have little integrity.

I try to always take the first option, and I try to get my kids to do the same. Even when I've failed, choosing option one has meant that customers I've failed have continued to work with me, and recommend me for further work because I work with integrity.

It doesn't matter if you want to focus

  • [[it doesn't matter how committed you are to focus 051020210602]]

After all, it hardly matters how commited you are to making the best use of your limited time if, day after day, your attention gets wrenched away by things on which you never wanted to focus. Stillness is the Key Pg 90

Everyday you should learn something amazing

  • [[Everyday you learn something amazing 202006110627]]

"Every day you learn something amazing," Kat says, "like, there's a secret underground library in New York City"–she pauses and gapes for effect, and it makes me laugh - "and you realize there's so much more that's waiting. Eighty years isn't enough. Or a hundred. Whatever. It's just not." Her voice goes a little ragged and I realize how deep this current runs within Kat Potente. - Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore

But if you want to learn something amazing you need to pay attention and be open to unique experiences. You need to be willing to listen to anyone that's passionate about a topic, so you can share in their passion.

If you keep that open mind and ask questions, yes you can learn something amazing every day. If you're too busy to listen you'll miss all the amazing stuff there is to learn.