The Pep Talk You Need if You Can't Stop Thinking About a Mistake

[bbasujon]

This is exactly what my mother meant whenever she stopped me mid-sentence from saying I "should have done" this or that. Sure, I wasn't trying to actually go back and fix it, but even thinking about the endless possibilities just wasn't healthy. For one thing, it was unproductive—moving up means moving forward. Second, it was defeatist. I was making myself feel bad for something that already happened and that I ultimately could no longer control.

That's not to say that you shouldn't reflect on what went wrong this time, but rather, that when you're dealing with a minor issue, you should focus on what you learned and how that'll translate into the next time.

So when you hear yourself saying something like, "I should've caught that mistake on the presentation slide" or "I shouldn't have said that to my manager," catch yourself and rephrase for the future. It could look like this: "At least they didn't notice my mistake, I'll be more careful on my next presentation." Or it could look like this: "During our next meeting, I'll word my feedback differently so it goes over better with my boss." See, no need to dive into everything you should've done at all.

This small switch in how you look at your mistakes has the ability to turn any setback into an important learning experience.


Source: https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-pep-talk-you-need-if-you-cant-stop-thinking-about-a-mistake