Of all the things we learn some lessons stay with us forever. In general, when life teaches us the hard way, we internalize what we have learned more and avoid making the same mistakes over and over again.
Dr. Henry Cloud, Ph.D. in clinical psychology and best-selling author of “Boundaries: When to Say Yes and How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life,” has studied successful people and found that there is one characteristic that separates them from the rest: They are not afraid to make mistakes because they learn from them.
Making mistakes is natural, but it is the successful ones who effectively learn the lesson and leverage their success by not repeating the same mistakes.
“Successful people have certain revelations that change forever and redirect the course of their lives,” says Dr. Cloud, who in his research found the 10 mistakes millionaires don’t make twice.
10 Mistakes Millionaires Don’t Make Twice
1. They never do something that didn’t work again.
If things fail it’s for a reason, and if those reasons don’t change, why would they start working now?
The clearest example is those couples who separate and return again and again, and again, and again. Something is wrong!
Before trying again, Dr. Cloud invites us to ask ourselves the following questions:
- Am I different now for this to work?
- Did the other person change so that now it works?
- Is the situation considerably different for everything to go well this time?
One of Albert Einstein’s most famous phrases is the following:
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
2. They never do anything that goes against themselves again.
Eric Thomas talks about the importance of our actions being aligned with our values; since only then can we persist in our activities.
Dr. Cloud takes a similar position: “If you have to be someone else to get something, don’t do it…In my experience, people who are doing things right never think again that they have to be someone else to get what they want. . They are honest about who they really are.”
3. They never try to change another person again.
Sometimes we make the mistake of wanting to change people.
We can have the best intentions but the freedom we give them to realize what they are doing wrong; will also be our freedom.
Dr. Cloud says that we can lead a horse to where the water is, but we can’t force it to drink.
We must show him the water, show him how refreshing it is. When he’s dehydrated, let’s tell him to drink; but let us understand that we cannot force him to take it.
That is something you will only do when you want to do it. Of the mistakes millionaires don’t make, this is one of the biggest.
4. They never again believe that they can please everyone.
In the search to fulfill our purpose, there will be dissatisfied people; That is unavoidable.
The important thing is that this cannot divert us from our objective, and for that, we must understand that we must only please the right people.
5. They never again choose short-term comfort over long-term benefits.
Achieving objectives requires sacrifices and the difficulties that we face will always be worth it; because we do it for the greater good.
“Successful people will take the short, limited, painful steps required to get what they want. Failures don’t.”
6. They never trust something or someone perfect again.
Excellence dazzles us but in an imperfect world.
“When we realize that, we will be much less vulnerable to being seduced by the perfect people and situations, which appear to have no flaws or side effects.”
7. They never take their eyes off the big picture again.
Of the mistakes that millionaires do not make 2 times, this is the most important.
The whole will always be more important than a small part. The successful ones know that they cannot leave everything for a small event or situation; since reaching the final goal requires all the necessary energy.
Having an objective vision gives us enough perspective to understand that small defeats are not the end, and that small victories are just one more step; In this way, we perform better on a physical level and improve our emotional intelligence.
8. They never neglect “due diligence” again.
For Dr. Cloud, due diligence is a practice where we confirm that what we are receiving is indeed what we think we are going to receive.
He refers to not taking things for granted as we must see them for ourselves. Part of “due diligence” is being able to make decisions considering the following:
- Ready: Know ourselves and our weaknesses.
- Take note: We recognize our goals and see them.
- Fire: We understand that we can “pull the trigger” and make the decision.
9. They never stop wondering why they are where they are.
Successful people keep constant track of their performance; both in their work and professional life.
This allows them to understand that their current position is not the result of what is happening around them, but the result of what they have done so far.
10. They never again forget that success happens within them.
“Our invisible life produces our visible life,” says Dr. Cloud.
What we inside produce our outside world, because we are the ones who shape our reality; it is not external agents that shape us.
Conclusion.
Making mistakes is not only normal, it’s okay. Since the learning they leave is more lasting and significant.
The secret is to constantly analyze where our actions have taken us; pas thus not commit it again.
I hope that this list of the 10 mistakes that millionaires do not make 2 times will be of great help to you.