Don’t Dwell On Your Mistakes

Optimism | 6.13.16 | By Kevin Pearce

We all make mistakes.  We’re human and that’s a normal and healthy part of life.  In fact, making mistakes can be good for us.  The problem emerges when we fail to move past our mistakes.  If we dwell on what we did wrong and beat ourselves up over it, then we’re only hurting our brain more.Lo

Once you’ve made a mistake, whether it was putting yourself at risk for another injury or engaging in behavior that’s bad for the brain, it’s important to recognize what happened.  Then, identify what you could have done differently.  Lastly, move on.  The mistake is now in the past and you’ve extracted an important lesson from it, so let it go.  

It’s easy to get stuck in a vicious cycle of punishing yourself for committing an error - but when you do that, you’re living in the past and filling your brain with ANTs (automatic negative thoughts).  Once you’ve learned the lesson, take a deep breath in, and with the exhale, let it go.