Did you see the mistake I made in my last email?!
This past week has been full to the brim with little things that didn’t go to plan; a dyslexic moment in my email, promoting an event for 2023 (a whole year behind the eight-ball!), something on my website going pear-shaped, and then at a speaking event I completely skipped over the powerful part of my presentation.
Have you ever noticed these seemingly insignificant, not-the-end-of-the-world, probably-nobody-would-even-notice mistakes often seem to happen one after the other? A mistake pile-on. A cluster of screw-ups.
In an effort to be kind to my human-ness I like to call them miss takes – takes that need a do-over!
I work hard to see these moments as a reminder that I’m human, that other people are human, and that as humans we don’t always get everything right 100% of the time.
I can assure you it wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time, a spelling mistake or forgetting something would have been the perfect opportunity for me to beat myself up. Accepting imperfection and not immediately launching into crisis management mode the minute something doesn’t go to plan is a work in progress.
Here’s the thing << Test First Name >>… those little clusters of miss takes are a great early warning system, like a little alarm reminding me there are probably things I need that I’ve been neglecting.
Miss takes are a chance to ask myself if I’m making errors because I’m overwhelmed or feeling pulled in too many directions. Am I getting enough sleep, enough good food, or giving my brain a rest from time to time.
If I find myself blowing tiny examples of human-ness out of proportion I ask myself if I’m feeling scared of being seen as incapable, or judged for not being professional enough.
And then there’s my trusty favourite, checking in to see if I’m seeking to make things perfect to hide my anxiety or feelings of being out of control.
There are so many reasons mistakes can trigger us but often the reaction to the things that go wrong tells us more about our wellbeing than the outcome itself and that’s so valuable.
In my small business workshops (which are open to anyone, not just small business owners) we spend a lot of time discussing why we use perfection as an excuse to punish ourselves, the difference between ‘miss takes’ and mistakes, and how we can manage our reactions to being human..
I’d love you to join me and share your own miss takes (so I don’t feel like it’s just me stuffing things up when I have brain fry and am exhausted). You can register through the links below.
May your week be filled with very few miss takes (or mistakes)
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