If we desire to move ahead in life, we need to learn to keep looking forward. If a person is traveling from Lagos to Abuja misses his way, and as a result of that, he keeps looking back, chances are that he might not get to his destination. If he is lucky, he will get there but very late.What we generally call “mistakes” are like that. They are mindsets. They take us back instead of towards our goal.

Take for example, two persons venture into a new business and they both lose all the money they invested. One says “I’ve worked so hard all my life to save this money, only to lose it. I’ve made a terrible mistake and don’t know where to start from.” Another says, “well I lost this N5m and I’m left with no cash, but I still have my life, health, family and friends. I can begin again. I’ve learnt a lesson on how not to invest money. Now I’ll dust myself up and start over again.” Which of these do you think will make it in a short while? You know the answer.
Why? This is because of their different mindsets. One “sees” it as a MISTAKE, the other “sees” as a LESSON on how not to invest money.
The mere thought of the word “mistake” evokes a negative and depressing connotation. It paralyses initiatives and creates a feeling of hopelessness.
Try this – next time you make a “MISTAKE” and the enemy starts flooding your mind with these negative thoughts of how you have done this or that, how bad the situation is and so forth. Identify that mindset and say “hey, yes I know I took a decision that didn’t work out. But I have learnt a good lesson from it, next time, I will not do it this way, but I will do it a better way. It’s not the end of the world” Notice how that makes you feel. Suddenly, your mind starts giving you ideas of what to do to improve the situation.
Kids know better than we do in this areas. When we were growing up, they gave us pencils and erasers. Why? When you make “mistakes” you can erase and start over again. It was fine to do that. As we continued, we were introduced to pen or biros. At this point, “mistakes” became unacceptable. You are flogged, abused and treated badly.
Everything that happens to us in life can either make us better or bitter. It depends on the mindset. The mistake is not the problem, but it how you see the problem that is the problem.
To win the battlefield of the mind, you need a new attitude that sees every error as a lesson and not a mistake.