Penny Phang - What Have You Done With Your Mistakes?

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH YOUR MISTAKES?
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Just as change will remain a constant in our lives, making mistakes will remain inevitable. This is all more than okay because we are not perfect—we are, however, human. Humans make mistakes; we have come to accept this notion. Learning from our own mistakes (or from other people's mistakes) is one of many ways we can grow to be stronger, wiser, better individuals. Saying this however, please don't let the acceptance of making mistakes mislead you.

The launch event for Imagine 1 Day Organization

Me and buddy Warren Moon, special guest

We've all heard of clichés such as "Nobody's perfect" or "It's okay to make mistakes." Though these clichés may be true, don't let them be your excuse to settle for less believing you're not perfect because "nobody's perfect," or to carelessly allow yourself to make mistakes (especially the same mistakes over and over) simply because "it's okay to make mistakes."

You see, it's not okay to accept making mistakes if you're not planning on learning from them and finding ways to make things better as a result. The mistakes you make can tell you a lot about yourself, but how you fix those mistakes or what you do with those mistakes will ultimately define who you are. So instead of just accepting that it's okay to make mistakes, challenge yourself to fix your mistakes!

Thanking our investors

Many thanks

Mistakes can come in many forms—financial, business, career, relationship, personal. It could be that you made a decision that yielded unsatisfying results. Or it could be that you said or did something to upset another person—or lead to your own pain. Whatever the case is, when you've done something wrong, don't waste time disrespecting yourself or others. By this I mean don't spend a whole lot of time beating yourself up, ignoring or justifying your mistake, or blaming others. If you react in this way, you are definitely missing the point! Why would you want to miss the point and rob yourself of the lessons and experiences that could make you great?

Me and my beautiful Nat

Group shot

Because we're human, we fall into temptation every now and again; we can get carried away with instant gratification; we can become uncertain and desperate from lack of knowledge or information. All this can lead us to make mistakes, but making mistakes is also how we get our practice in becoming better at making fewer mistakes. So accept the challenge and confront your mistakes! If you cover up one mistake, it will only lead to another mistake, and then another...It's like telling a lie and having to tell more lies to cover up the first lie.

Time to let our hair down

The night has just begun

I don't know about you, but I find it very attractive when a person owns up to their mistakes. It shows they are confident and secure enough to say I'm sorry, I am not proud of what I did. What can I do to make things right? Whether you have to say this to someone else or to yourself, whatever mistakes you've made, I promise you there's more than one way to mend each mistake. Sometimes you can rectify a mistake immediately, and other times, it could take a while. Sometimes it could mean walking away from the current situation and doing better the next time around, and other times it could mean sticking around and doing whatever it takes to make things right before you walk away from the situation. You decide! Trust your common sense. Allow your heart and mind to work together in harmony when you make these decisions.

Getting down on the dance floor

The night is still young...

You can learn so much from your mistakes: You could learn to give if you've been selfish; you could learn to be patient and strategic if you've been hasty and careless; you could learn to find out more before making a decision if you've made bad decisions due to lack of information. For every negative there is a positive—however, the only way you'll be able to see this positive-negative connection is if you're open to it and truly want to rectify your mistakes.

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Also bear in mind, you can't always expect others to forgive you or allow you the easy way out just because you apologized and tried to make things right. Some people can be less forgiving than others. Your responsibility is to do your absolute best to make things right. But how others choose to react is their free will, and not something you should try to control. Some people still have much to learn about understanding and forgiveness, while others are way ahead of the game. So there's no need to force the situation. Just let those who need to, learn to understand and forgive on their own time.

As I said earlier, it's not all right to make mistakes if after, you don't plan on learning from them and finding ways to make things better. The mistakes you make can tell you a lot about yourself, but how you fix those mistakes or what you do with those mistakes will ultimately define who you are.

Though you may not be perfect, however, when you consistently and willingly apply your thoughts, courage and efforts to rectify your mistakes, you will then have become the essence of what perfection is all about!

Penny Phang

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