What does being wrong mean to you? It might mean embarrassment for some. While for others it might be something that is completely unacceptable. But, what’s wrong in being wrong once a while? Don’t forget ‘to be creative, you have to lose the fear of being wrong.’ And, we must also not forget that creativity is the one trait that’s in-demand in today’s competitive world.
- Being wrong is part of success
Whenever you look at something as being wrong or right, don’t look at it in just that moment. Try to look at it in the bigger picture. How?
Don’t just look at being wrong as a sheer embarrassment. Think of it as a way to improve, so that the next time you do it right. Like Thomas Edison used to say - I did not fail a 1000 times, I just found a thousand ways that don’t work.
It’s okay to be wrong, as long as you can come up with something positive out of it and can inspire you to become bigger and better in life!
- It breaks the shackles of perfectionism
Almost all of us suffer from the fear of failure. If you look at the reason behind it, more often than not it will be the same - ‘I am not perfect at it. I’ll do it wrong.’
Who says you have to be perfect at it the first time. Perfection is something that comes with practice. For some, it does not even come after years of practice. So, the mindset should be to give it a try. It’s okay to fail at something, and rise up again to do it right. But, what’s not okay is to not even try because of the fear of failure.
Perfectionism is a ghost that will continue to haunt you unless you try. As a matter fact, the first step to climb the ladder of success is to give it a try, rather than waiting for being perfect at something.
- Never failing always fails
I know hundreds of people who plan to something without failing. Not even a single one of them has been able to achieve success the first time. I know many people who have waited and waited for years, planning to do things without failures.
It’s good to think of making it right the first time. But planning that you will never fail is going to fail always. Failure is inevitable, because it is nature’s way of reminding us that success requires persistence and perseverance. We have to accept the fact that failure is inevitable if we want to move ahead in life.
Acceptance of mistakes allows us to learn from them and improve, rather than live in fear!
It’s okay to be wrong
In the end, it’s all about the effort we are putting and our eagerness to learn something that matters in the first attempt. In it's okay to be wrong, even in front of the public, because that’s how we learn, and that’s how we grow.
I’d like to share this story that I read online a few days ago.
‘A sports teacher was holding his class in some school. The interactive session was going on. The rules were simple - the teacher would ask a question and the student who answered the quickest would get a surprise gift.
The first question was - How many points do you think Michael Jordan scored during his entire career as an NBA professional? Take a wild guess?
As soon as the teacher popped this question all the students rushed to the only help - Google. Whereas one student came up with a random answer, although he was a little late with the answer.
When the teacher asked how did he come up with the number. He explained some formula that he developed, which was something like this - the number of games he played multiplied by his average points per game (which was also a guess) and that’s how he came with that number.
While the answer nowhere near to the correct number, the teacher gave the surprise gift to that kid.’
For those of you who are wondering why? The answer lies in the motive behind the game, not the answer given by students. While everyone was hostage to technology, this kid actually used his mental ability to think of an answer. He was not dependent on Google. He was not afraid to be wrong. Even though everyone else came up with the correct answer because they did not want to be wrong - they wanted to win the prize. But that was not their brain which got the answer, it was Google. So, the person who used his brain to come up with the answer won the prize!
So, sometimes being wrong can actually be the right choice. Think over it.
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About Author
Vartika Kashyap is the Marketing Manager at ProofHub (https://www.proofhub.com/) — a project management software for your growing business needs. She is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016, and is also a contributor for The Next Web, Huffington Post & Your Story. She is also a top writer in Leadership & Productivity on Medium. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.
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