岁月的痕迹
徘徊于理性与现实的旷野里, 生存于东方与西方的交界面。
Everyone of us has made some mistakes during our life.
We may have done something we were not supposed to do (which could be either the wrong thing at the right time or place, or the right thing at the wrong time or place); we may have failed to do something that we should be doing; we may have accidentally done something without knowing why we did it; we have intended to do something, but made the mistake of doing it to the wrong person; we have done something accidently on purpose; we have stuck to a bad decision even though the evidence suggests we were wrong; we have overlooked the thing we should be working on by being so preoccupied with another task; we have kept changing our mind even though the information we were using to make our decisions remained constant; we may have tried to handle too much data coming in all at once; we have tried to act on the model that was in our memory bank even though it did not apply to the task at hand; we have been distracted by a diversion or preoccupation when we were performing almost-automatic routines amid familiar surroundings; we have lost track in a sequence of actions when we were suddenly interrupted; we may have stayed with a job we hated or quit a job we should have hung on; or we may have chosen the wrong college to attend, etc.
Given that mistakes are generally expensive, physically and emotionally painful, a waste of time and/or resources, aggravating, regressive, insidious, destructive, repressive, or irreversible, there is enormous incentive for us to find out the causes of our mistakes, and learn to become error-free. Fortunately, the common causes for our mistakes are readily identifiable, which may include: lack of knowledge, confusion, poor judgment, distractions, lack of foresight or vision, daydreaming, unknown risks, poor frame of mind, self-fulfilling prophecies, fear, guilt, entrapment, going it alone (refusing other's help), lack of responsibility, and bad habits.
So what can we do to avoid mistakes? Essentially, if we can take care of the following aspects, we will be on our way to become error-free, that is, know where we are going, get the facts, build on our strengths, set priorities, know what to expect, be responsible, minimize our risks, think positively, overcome fear, position ourselves, visualize, appreciate time, develop a game plan, know where to start, do one thing at a time, find a way (or make one), go steadily into wind, know when to quit, keep a journal, avoid guilt, share with others, reward ourselves, make success a habit, and care enough to do our very best.
While it looks impossible for us to focus on all the issues at once, paying attention to one or several aspects will undoubtedly help us reduce our mistakes. The logic is, by aiming at the moon, you may at least hit a few stars even if you miss by miles. However, if you do not try, you will not get anywhere.
Have an error-free life!
