Mistakes. Mistakes. Mistakes. Lesson. Mistake. Mistake. Success. The road to success is not easy but success is about the journey, not the destination.
One of my students had a rough day today. He was assigned a writing assignment for homework and when I corrected the assignment and asked him to write it again, he broke down crying. I consoled him and asked him why he was crying. He said it was because he made so many mistakes and had to start all over again. I let him know that he did a wonderful job completing the writing assignment and making mistakes was part of the writing process. In the future, as he continues to grow, I told him he will have plenty of writing assignments he will have to write more than once. Writing the same piece multiple times, adjusting any errors, helps us become better writers.
Since I love using analogies with my students, I gave him an example of how humans learn to run. When we are born we are not able to run straight out the womb. First, we have to learn how to crawl, then to stand, then to stumble, then to stand again, then to walk, then we fall, get up and walk, slowly jog, and then we are able to run. I reminded him of everything he has accomplished thus far during our time together and how intelligent he is. He just needed to shift his thinking and believe in himself. He ended up changing his mindset and tackled the writing assignment with a newfound perspective.
I share this story in case you have a little one who is afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes are not failures. Mistakes are lessons that we have the opportunity to learn and grow from. Sometimes we let our mistakes get the best of us and we become stagnant. We let our fear of making mistakes keep us from trying. Once we see that making mistakes is part of the journey to propel us forward towards success, is when we see what we are truly capable of. Make mistakes with confidence, learn from them with confidence, and grow from them with confidence.
I hope this post was helpful for you.
Much love,
-Ms. Rebecca
