This morning reaffirmed what I wrote about last week, that we need to make mistakes. I found the gem below as I was doing my daily devotional and it articulates perfectly my intent in the Making Mistakes In Business Is Important blog: We should be making even more mistakes––in life as well as in business.
The passage below is taken from the book The Pursuit of Excellence, by time management expert Ted W. Engstrom. It is a powerful book that encourages us to leave our small ambitions behind and strive for a more purposeful future. One part of that, as you will read, is in not being afraid to make mistakes. Good advice. Read on…
“If I had my life to live over again, I’d try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I know of very few things I would take seriously. I would take more trips. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets. I would do more walking and looking, I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I am one of those people who live prophylactically and sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I’ve had my moments, and if I had it to do over again, I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead each day. I have been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat, aspirin, and a parachute. If I had it to do over again, I would go places, do things, and travel lighter than I have.
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would play more. I would ride on more merry-go-rounds. I’d pick more daisies.”*
So here’s to each of us caring less about how silly we look and more about how much fun we’re having––all while making many more mistakes!
Onward-
AZ
*Ted W. Engstrom, The Pursuit of Excellence, (Zondervan, 1982) p.90
