5 Mistakes You Should Only Make Once

Although mistakes are painful, they are effective ways of learning and gaining a whole new experience once in a while. This experience might be personal or learned from the ones made by others. While mistakes are insightful and needed for professional and personal growth, it is best to only make them once in a lifetime and learn.

The ability to learn from them has seen many people discover new things and become the best version of themselves. You might be surprised to find some notable people among them. Though they made a mistake, they ensured not to repeat it.

Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has made his fair share of mistakes. During his 2018 interview at South by Southwest said the biggest mistake that he committed in his entire career was not being more involved with Tesla in his initial days.

By moving past his mistakes and regrets, he becomes the wealthiest man in the world who runs billion-dollar companies. Though mistakes are good, here are some you should never commit twice but only once.

Being under the influence of your emotions

Emotional intelligence is essential in relating with others, and as such, you should never lose grip on your emotions. This is because negative emotions control you into making decisions that often lead to mistakes that could have been avoided. 

Since everybody is prone to making mistakes, emotions such as anger, doubt, jealousy and pride have the power to make even the most logical of people make costly mistakes. Hence it is good to learn to be in charge of your emotional triggers and learn to respond to them instead of reacting.

Not asking all the necessary questions

Nobody is an island of knowledge. Instead of assuming to understand something, learn to ask all the questions that nobody dares to, even when it seems you are intruding.

Not doing this has seen many people commit themselves to things that became their costly mistakes. Instead of acting awkward, timid and waiting to make expensive mistakes, ask all the needed questions. Remember, the worst scenario when you ask a question is either a yes or no, and ignorance is not an excuse.

RELATED:

5 Mistakes You’re Making with Whatsapp Business

Letting fear control you

Over 60,000 thoughts go through the mind of everybody daily. Some of them are fearful thoughts. This makes fear a product of our thought, a negative reaction to the what-ifs that lack concrete basis. Hence, we fear the present, the repercussions of our past actions and the future.

Since these fears are baseless, never let them consume you. Once you give it autonomy, it becomes a two-edged tool for either success or failure, depending on how you use it. If you are scared of people seeing you as a failure, your fear should motivate you to achieve great success. 

Also, if you are scared about an idea or starting a business, it can stop you from making a move that can be a costly mistake from becoming a billionaire.

Falling for Ponzi schemes

Numerous people have fallen into the trap of get-rich-quick schemes. This is because the schemes are always branded with promises of returns within a short period. The qualities of these schemes have seen desperate people and seasoned investors lose millions of dollars to swindlers. 

Most of the time, this is due to ignorance and blindness to all the red flags. Though these mistakes have been made, they should be once. Remember that while shortcuts are possible, it is also one of the ways of making mistakes. This is because there is no shortcut to generational wealth creation.

Not assertive

Being assertive is one of the ways of creating a boundary that is respected by all and sundry. This way, people know you for being firm with your decisions. Also, you create an identity for yourself, which makes it impossible for you to be approached by negative-minded people. This way, your emotions, time and mental health are protected.

However, being unable to stand your ground will make you susceptible to mistakes. This is because you quickly agree to everything people table before you despite not being interested in it. Hence you get yourself into situations that, most times, are too late to correct.

NEXT:

A Look at Bukola Sawyerr Izeogu, the Nigerian Multi-facet PR Expert Extraordinaire