Make Your Mistakes a Feature

Hello Patriots,

In our attempt to be "perfect," we often forget that it is our mistakes that make us who we are.

As hard as it is to go through tough times, it is generally during those times that we grow the most.

The other day I was reflecting on this as this thought came to mind:

Make Your Mistakes a Feature

If it is truly our goal to gain personal freedom, I belive understaing this concept is vital. 

The idea is that we often see our past struggles as indiscretions, flaws, or things we must hide from.

I would like to propose a different way of viewing this.

Those “mistakes” should be viewed as a feature of who we are – and not something we hide from.

If these features are used correctly, they can be a building block and strength for who we can become.

For us to adequately turn these things into features there are a couple thing we must do:

First, we can’t run from our actions; meaning we must accept and take responsibility for those things.

That honesty with ourselves is the first step in correcting behavior.

If we justify actions that we know are incorrect, that will block our future progress more than the initial mistake.

This damns our progress.

Secondly, a healthy dose of regret is okay. This our mechanism for understanding what outcomes are desirable and which are not.

The mistake most of us make (I’ve done it plenty) is that we incessantly beat ourselves up instead of learning and overcoming.

This is where it becomes unproductive and hinders our growth.

We must be able to reflect, see where we went wrong, make changes, and forgive ourselves.

Lastly, accept it as a part of our development.

This is where making it a feature comes in.

Not complely moving on from past actions or mistakes doesn’t mean we have to dwell on those things, but what we should do is incorporate that into who we are.

As you overcome something, that becomes a strength – something you can use to your advantage.

You should also use that experience to help build others that are struggling with that same thing. This really solidifies it as a feature of who we are.

It is easy to want to hide weakness instead of accepting it as a part of our development - I know I am guilty of this.

These steps are something that has worked for me; but your process will likely look different.

The main key is being able to learn form mistakes, find a way to improve, forgive and move forward, and use that new feature to build yourself in other areas.

I believe there is great strength in being able to makes these past mistakes our new strengths - instead of chains that enslave us.  

The Freedom we desire can be found in our ability to turn these though times into a core and foundational part of who we are.

It’s time to adopt these as features and make them a foundational part of who and what we are!

Thanks for reading,
 

Darron Rowley

Founder of Freedom Elements