My 3 Step Process to Overcome Mistakes and Doubt

Think of something that you are not proud of from your past. It may be a mistake, something you did, or just a feeling. How often are you thinking about that situation, and does it impact your daily life? Having dealt with a lot of feelings of regret or doubt, I figured out a way to embrace those mistakes and turn them into something that is actually healthy and beneficial. Here is my three-step process to overcome mistakes and feelings of doubt.

Acknowledging The Error

You have basically already started the first step. There is probably a situation in your mind where you made a mistake, a bad decision, or just were too afraid to do anything. The best way to overcome mistakes or feelings of doubt is to recognize the problem. Although it may really suck to think about that time, chances are you do it often.

In reality, a lot of us tend to focus on mistakes we made forever ago. It is completely normal, and we have almost been conditioned to do it. By facing your mistakes or fears head on, you are saying that your past has no power over how you are feeling. Now that you have that idea in your mind, you are ready for the next step!

Being Thankful for the Lessons You Were Taught as a Result

Think back to that mistake you made. What is something you learned from that experience? We learn something from everything we do. If you dated your ex again, your lesson was probably that your decision to break up was right the first time. Maybe someone else is living your dream because they were not afraid to take the plunge. Your lesson in that situation is that you should have just went for it.

Whatever lesson you are receiving from your mistake or feelings of doubt, you should be thankful for that lesson. Think of it like the universe telling you what you need to know. One of my favorite things to do is to list the mistake I made in my journal, and then I write how I feel about the situation now, what I learned from it, and how to avoid it happening again. This site has some great journaling prompts that you can use to get started!

Understanding Why We Make Mistakes as a Collective

The last step is to realize that everything we do is part of a greater decision. You may make a decision to get the white flowers at the grocery store instead of the purple, but even that has a bigger idea behind it. You know that the white flowers are going to match better with your home decor. And yes, your home decor was also a previous decision.

Just because you were afraid or made a bad decision in the past doesn’t mean you can’t overcome mistakes or self-doubt. We are constantly changing as we age, and just because you blacked out in 2012 at a party does not mean that you will ever doing it again. You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself because sometimes decisions are almost like a domino effect. You make one decision which leads you into another.

The mistakes or feelings of doubt you had in the past could be because you weren’t willing to step up for who you wanted to be. Maybe you were not educated on a situation or topic. Just because you were someone in the past doesn’t mean you are that person now.

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How do you overcome mistakes or feelings of doubt?