Leadership Growth: Practicing Self-Compassion in Times of Mistakes
On Mondays, I choose a quote that resonates with me and share it in hopes that it will serve as a dose of inspiration to start your work week, and nudge you to take steps to move your goals forward.
“Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on.” ~Les Brown
Mistakes are a part of the journey. However, as achievers we sometimes sit too long in overthinking, self-criticism, or second-guessing (add your version). We replay these mistakes and they become mental road blocks, draining our energy and hindering us from making progress. As we are striving, we may inadvertently forget our humanness and with that comes making mistakes. What if we gave ourselves permission to not make it about “perfection” and shift to resilience? How could we benefit from extending compassion inward when we stumble?
Self-compassion is a strength, helping us to:
Free up our mental energy so we can focus forward vs getting stuck in the mistake(s).
Recognize the mistake without the judgment.
Reframe the story we are telling ourselves, shifting from “failed” to “learned.”
Mine the lessons, insights that we can take from the experience.
Leverage these lessons as building blocks.
Growth is not measured by how rarely we make mistakes (read that again, please), but how quickly we can recover and the lessons we carry forward. When we practice self-compassion, we strengthen ourselves and in turn model to those around us that they can do the same.
Take a moment this week and reflect on what mistake you are still holding on to, and how you can reframe it into a lesson for growth.
If you would like support in building resilience and practicing self-compassion as a leadership tool, let’s connect and explore how you can lead with greater clarity and courage.
