The other day at work I completely forgot all things I've ever known and basically could not even do a return properly (I work in retail, so returns are pretty vital). After the lady left I obsessed about how my manager had to come in and save me from myself. It drove me crazy that A. I failed at doing something I should be able to do and B. I did not correct it myself and needed to be saved. Clearly, as this had happened almost a week ago, it's still bothering me because, well, I'm now writing an article about it. I try really hard to stop thinking about it but I just can't. Any mistake of mine never leaves my mind, ever. I wish I didn't care about failing, messing up, or doing something wrong but I suppose if I was that careless I just wouldn't be me. Trying to do everything perfectly is a tough task though, being human and all. So what's a girl to do? I guess I can give up on life, crawl into a hole and never speak to anyone else again...right? Maybe not. Here are some ideas I have when I think about finally relaxing, letting go, and putting an end to beating myself up for my mistakes.
Accept Once And For All That You Are Human. Seriously, accept it, dang it! Why are you driving yourself crazy about making mistakes when that is literally one of the only things EVERY human being has in common: we all mess up. Even Beyoncé messes up. Don't you think Oprah had to get through some horrible interviews to become the amazing woman she is? And do you think Steve Jobs just made the IPhone and it was perfect and nothing ever had to be changed? I think not. Welcome to this club of people who screw up constantly, there's like multiple billion of us...including me who messes up probably 1,000,000 times a day, just saying. And being that humans have been messing up for centuries, it's really not a big deal to mess up now. You are allowed to be human every now and then, in case nobody told you that.
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Who Cares? Stuttered on a speech during your public speaking class? Walked down the hall with wet shoes and made a noise that sounded like a little fart in front of everyone known to man? Royally screwed up at something simple but you overcomplicated it for some reason? Let. It. Go. Seriously, channel your inner Elsa and let it go! Who really cares if you mess up? I guarantee anyone who noticed your slip up has already forgotten about it so why haven't you? Stop beating yourself up because again, you are 100% human and it really does not matter: who. the. heck. cares. that. you. are. a. flawed. human. being. NOBODY! Relax.
Try Again. How can you learn anything if you do not mess up? You can't. If you don't realize what is wrong, you will never realize what is right. Just take a deep breath and relax knowing that next time around you will be better than the first time, which is a good thing. Failure = success, remember that for anything in life.
Identify The Problem. I know that the only reason I messed up the return was because the customer was staring at me, sighing, and complaining that she needed to leave because she was late for an appointment. I let her control me and I allowed her anxiety to become mine, therefore I rushed through the return and messed it up. Identify what makes you fail and try to change as much as possible. Maybe you are struggling in that one class because you are not giving yourself enough time to study. Or maybe you are doing poorly at your job because you are not asking enough questions. Whatever it may be, identify the issue and attempt to correct it. I know for next time that I need to focus on my job, not the fact that the customer is in a hurry.
Failure is one of those things that every person handles differently but the bottom line is, it should not control you. Using these tips might make you think twice the next time you feel yourself obsessing about not being perfect. Good luck and remember, tomorrow's a brand new day to totally mess up again!
