On mopping up when you mess up. Learning from one’s mistakes.

Find Your Way

Most of us have experienced a kitchen disaster at one time or another. You know. That time when, somehow, the food that you have so lovingly been preparing, literally explodes all over the cupboards, up the walls and even onto the ceiling. Most likely, you stopped everything and immediately got to work to clear up and mop up the mess. You could not ignore the mess, knowing it would create an even bigger headache if you left it. You isolate the area. You practice containment.

Mr Winston Wolfe - aka ‘The Fixer’ out of Pulp Fiction - would be proud of you! One of his introductory lines is “I solve problems”. He delegates, he gets things done because he thinks with a calm, methodical mind. He gets messes cleared up.

Mr Wolfe’s name wrongly suggests that he is a ‘howler’ (read my previous blog Are You Howling or Hooting?). He is, in fact, our pre-frontal cortex personified.

At home, work and play. I profess to not having always dealt with my ‘life messes’ expediently. In messy situations, I can revert to my less attractive traits such as practising avoidant behaviour, failing to communicate effectively or even letting my ego get in the way. This inevitably creates the pressure cooker scenario described above. Consequently, my mess becomes metaphorically encrusted onto the walls, it is found dripping from the ceiling, trodden into the carpets and permanently staining the clothes I am wearing at the time. My life mess has gotten everywhere!

Happily, most of the time, I have learned to deal with my mistakes head on or to use reflective time to take further, appropriate action. The trick is also to avoid making the same mistake over and over again.

Essentially, I have learned to wipe down and wash up as I go along. If I have let things slide a bit, I take notice and start mopping up my mess so that soon my surroundings are back to being sparkling and shiny such that I can stand back and admire my endeavours with satisfaction.

Unlike the work of said Mr Wolfe of Pulp Fiction fame who tells his clients what they need to do in the midst of a crisis situation, Life Coaching works very differently. A coaching conversation empowers you to understand and decide what materials you need in your cleaning bucket.

When the time comes, you have the resources within yourself to mop up any mess.

“Mistakes are the best teachers. One does not learn from success. It is desirable to learn vicariously from other people’s failures, but it gets much more firmly seared in when they are your own.”

(Mohnish Pabrai: businessman, investor, philanthropist)

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