You can't make a fried egg without breaking the egg, and gold doesn't become bright and shining without going through fire and brimstone.

Let's talk about mistakes.

When we start anything in life, we are fresh and inexperienced, we are most times not perfect in our approach.

Even though there is the general advice to learn from the mistakes of others, certain mistakes have to be experienced firsthand. Moreover, the human mind is always most attracted to what we have been warned against.

Early in my career, I made certain mistakes by not taking some things seriously while taking others too seriously. You might call it "youthful exuberance". I was mostly thinking and operating from a short term perspective, not the long term.

Lately, I've heard motivational speakers say, "Don't regret anything that has happened in your life including mistakes because it has brought you to where you are at the moment." This might be true, but it's quite relative.

My advice - when you realize you've made a mistake, pause. Reflect and assess the current outcome. Understand how you got to where you are - this is very important. Retrace your steps, identify the lessons, accept them, and heal gradually.

Mistakes always lead to disappointment, which can impact our mental health, self-esteem, and confidence. If you're not observant, it could cause lasting damage even before you know.

However, mistakes are not permanent. Just as pencil markings can be erased, pen marks can be corrected, and typed text can be deleted. Every mistake has a solution; you just need to channel your disappointment into creating a positive outcome.

My own mistakes left me disappointed and sad, but they also made me angry and motivated to achieve my goals, my anger gave me the required aggression day-in, day-out to push myself. I started to plan the biggest things you can imagine, and gradually, they started to materialize beyond even my expectations.

What do you think was my biggest motivation? That One mistake.

I have three steps that assisted me and I believe will assist you too, in identifying and gaining from mistakes early on in your career;

1. Clarify Your Goals and Plans:

Make sure you have clear short-term and long-term goals; they are not the same.

For example, if you're an aspiring public speaker, pick a topic to speak about every day, you could set your camera and just speak as though you were addressing an audience, listen back and improve on whatever error you made in your next video.

2. Set Timelines for Self-Assessment:

Regularly review and assess your progress. If you don't check in with yourself, time will fly by with nothing to show for it.

For instance, schedule monthly reviews of your goals and achievements (personal/career).

3. Learn from Mistakes:

If your project fails, analyze what went wrong, adjust your approach, and try again. Remember, failure is not final; it's just another step on the staircase.

Many people have walked the walk, but you have to make specific decisions on how you intend to walk your own path. Your strengths are sometimes hidden in your weaknesses; you just need to dig deep.

Let's do a short mental exercise, pause and think about this:

1. What is your strongest weakness?

2. How does it make you feel?

3. Who do you think you would be if it was your strength?

That's exactly who you are; you just need to dig deeper.

I'm not trying to get you to learn from my mistakes; I just want you to think about one or two mistakes you've made, whether earlier or recently, that made you want to give up. Don't let that be your takeaway; let it be a source of motivation for you.