Roll with the punches. You’ve heard it over and over and now again. Endless quotes exist. If there were a gift I could give you, it would be the ability to painlessly learn from failure. (note- first version was ”joyfully learn from failure”, but I decided that was stretching it a bit, had to laugh and find a different word)
Hanna is starting music lessons at home this summer. She’s been playing the bass clarinet with group lessons at school, but this is the first time she’s been tutored. Listening in from my office, I heard high praise. Ron, our new music teacher, complimented Hanna on playing through her mistakes. He pointed out that when she made a mistake, her eyes stayed on the music, moving forward, and she didn’t falter. He said, “A lot of people stop when they make mistakes, but you jump right back in. That’s great, because you know the music isn’t going to wait for you.”
When you have a nearly 11 year-old playing a bass clarinet- “mistakes” can be pretty impressive. Unintentional SQUAWKing can be ear-shattering! I hope that Hanna can translate her “jumping right back in” skills to other areas of her life. It will serve her very well!
You’re not 11. Your mistakes have different consequences. Still, the best thing you can do is roll with the punches. When I coach time management, the first concept is about “you can’t manage time”. You can’t take things back; if you’re lucky, you get a do-over. When you feel like you’ve failed or just made a mistake- learn what you can and jump back in!
The music isn’t going to wait for you.
Note: if you learn from self-help ware, then you might enjoy John Maxwell’s book, Failing Forward, Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success. It’s one I recommend. I also like having it on the shelf, there are times when just reading the title makes me feel better!
