No one likes to make mistakes. Many people prefer to avoid admitting their mistakes or blame others when they mess up. We all know that everyone makes mistakes. However, people are still so afraid of making them. So, what effective strategies can we use to minimize mistakes and maximize what we can learn from them?

Many people prefer to avoid admitting their mistakes or blame others when they mess up. We all know that everyone makes mistakes. However, people are still so afraid of making them.

There are four common mistakes people make when considering their own or others’ mistakes. What are they?

Mistake Myth 1: Believing that the older we get, the wiser and more successful we become, the fewer mistakes we will make. As we get older, we hope to become wiser and expect to achieve greater success while making fewer mistakes. Wise people, however, don’t see life this way. Instead, they put themselves at greater risk of making mistakes by embracing change and challenges. Many exceptional individuals, in fact, took their biggest risks at an age some of us might consider too late. For example, Goethe wrote Faust at age 82; Michelangelo began working on St. Peter’s Basilica at age 70. Successful people view life as an ongoing process of trial and error. They keep learning and experimenting – making meaningful mistakes – until their last breath.

As we get older, we hope to become wiser and expect to achieve greater success while making fewer mistakes. Wise people, however, don’t see life this way.

Mistake Myth 2: Not being able to distinguish between mistakes and failure. Most of our mistakes in life can be rectified in some way; for instance, divorce is a past failure, but if you learn from your mistakes in previous marriages, you can build better relationships in the future. Thomas Edison can serve as an example. After 10,000 failed attempts at inventing the light bulb, he was asked why he persevered. He replied: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

When we see someone’s success, we only see the positive side.

Mistake Myth 3: Thinking that other people’s life paths are easier. When we see someone’s success, we only see the positive side. Or we look for reasons, like them being wealthy, to explain their ability to earn more money. Consider that the original manuscript of Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishers before it was published; Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team; Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor who said he lacked imagination. In its first year, Coca-Cola only sold 100 bottles of soda.

Failure is certainly painful because it’s permanent and irreversible. Mistakes, on the other hand, are steps toward personal growth.

Mistake Myth 4: Assuming that mistakes are usually painful. Failure is certainly painful because it’s permanent and irreversible. Mistakes, on the other hand, are steps toward personal growth. Successful people are those who embark on any endeavor with the awareness that what they seek, and the path to it, may be challenging. Therefore, mistakes are very likely to happen. As a result, when failure occurs, it doesn’t mean it’s a personal incapability of yours.