Mistakes

Hey team. All right. Here we are again. Another beautiful day. Let me give you guys another quote because I love to give quotes. I love to tell stories, and I love to talk.

Mistakes. It’s the word mistakes. “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” Now, I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty tough list.

First of all, I’ve made mistakes and not been smart enough. I really have. I’ve not been smart enough to profit from them, and I have not been strong enough to correct them. I’ve had times in my life where I’ve completed and made the same mistake again and again and again. Sometimes more than three or four times. In my marriage, I have made the same mistake time and time again.

I’ve been recently reading Atomic Habits, another great book. If you haven’t read it, you should definitely dive into it. One of the things about habits is they get ingrained into us, and we tend to fall back into them relatively easily. We joke around an awful lot about that word. When you’re hungry, you get hangry because of your hunger. Well, you tend to fall back into who you are at your core, sometimes the good and the bad of that core, at different times in your life.

For me, I have to be very intentional about certain kinds of things. If I get hungry or sidetracked or just tired, I can go back to the core of who I am and destroy other people. I’m not talking about physically hurting them, but it’s the same thing because if I leave them emotionally beat up because of my attitude, all because I was hungry or tired and frustrated, then it’s kind of the same thing. I just beat them up and left them bruised and bleeding on the side of the road.

Our mistakes, the first thing that you need to be is big enough to admit them. I don’t know about you, but for guys like me, that has been hard in the past. I’ve gotten a lot better at it, being able to admit my mistakes. Being smart enough to profit from your mistakes and also strong enough to correct them is something else. I have made progress. I’m not saying that in a prideful way like, “Hey, I made progress, I’ve got this, so now I’m teaching it.” I’m still learning, I’m still growing, I’m still doing it.

What I hear from team leaders and other people around me, and people close to me, including my wife who’s been the recipient of my mistakes time and time again, is that I’m getting better because she tells me I’m getting better. I’m not perfect. On this side of Heaven, I don’t think I will be, but I’m getting better.

So, where are you at today? Think about it. Are you big enough to admit your mistakes, are you strong enough to admit them? Are you smart enough to profit from them? Something for you to think about as you move through this week.

As you do, remember it’s not a one-time thing, it’s going to be a lifetime thing, and you’re going to have to continue to work at it. Think about how to avoid being hungry, avoid being tired, and avoid putting yourself in a situation where you’re having a conversation when you’re tired or hungry. Karen and I have learned over time that sometimes when we come home from work or whatever, instead of diving right into a conversation about something, maybe taking that little bit of time for decompression.

Let’s decompress and move into dinner and family life, and let’s not bring work back up again. Let’s not bring work up at this time or that time, or let’s not bring up family issues or whatever right after we get home because if you’re hungry, tired, or worn out, your mind is preoccupied. It’s hard to focus on something important from your spouse or your children or somebody else.

You might need a few minutes. Maybe you need to go for a run, a walk, punch a punching bag somewhere, or play with the dog in the backyard or catch with your son. Whatever it is, decompress, eat a good meal, and then you can dive into more difficult conversations with your loved ones. These are small little things that I keep learning and keep trying to grow myself.

Again, I’m not perfect. I am just like you, I put my pants on pretty much the same way. I start with my right foot, then my left, just in case anybody was interested. Anyway, God bless you guys. You have a wonderful week, and remember, let’s be valuable because nothing less will do. Learning from our mistakes is a great start. All right, I’ll see you guys next week.