Everyone makes mistakes (even if nobody likes to admit it) and there is nothing wrong with that. The problem occurs when we do not realise that we are making them.
Bombarded by social media messages, and the unrealistic picture they paint of the world and people’s lives; it is easy for us to overestimate our abilities. Even though it is important to believe in yourself and your abilities, you need to get the right training before starting a business. For example, journalist Malcolm Gladwell states that it takes 10,000 hours of practice before you can say you are an expert in any field.
Meanwhile, the most common reaction to failure is to blame it on external factors, making excuses to avoid having to admit that you were wrong. It is a rather common reaction that, unfortunately, can often lead to the loss of an important opportunity: the chance to learn from our mistakes. To truly learn from our mistakes, we need to become more open minded and learn to question our actions.
A good way to start this process is to ask questions. Rather than blindly accepting it when someone says that a certain initiative or action is impossible, it would be more constructive to ask that person why, and try to understand whether they are making an informed decision, or a misguided mistake.
Among other things, when someone becomes deeply engrossed in any entrepreneurial project, they can completely lose sight of its real chances of success and entry into the market. If you are able to stay open to constructive criticism, and recognise any mistakes you might have made, this will help you to maintain an objective perspective, and enable you to make changes to the project, as necessary.
Finally, it is important to keep an eye on your competitors, so that you can learn from both their successes and failures. Above all, however, when they achieve better results than you do, it is important that you recognise them as a potentially useful source of inspiration.
