We’ve all been there; the moment you realize you’ve made a huge mistake and start to get that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. Okay, so you made a mistake, now what? Everyone makes mistakes. It’s human nature, therefor, what matters isn’t that you made a mistake, but how you handle it. Let me clarify that if you’re perpetually making errors because of lack of attention to detail or carelessness, that is a separate issue that should be addressed, however making a rare mistake is totally normal as long as you handle it properly. Below I’ve listed out the steps to take to ensure that you handle your mistake professionally and with poise.
- Take Action Immediately. The moment you realize that you’ve made a mistake is the moment you need to take action towards fixing it. Sitting around and dwelling on your error won’t make it better, and depending on what the mistake is, it could make it worse.
- Take Responsibility for Your Errors and Fess Up to Them. There’s nothing worse than a person who won’t take responsibility for their wrongdoing, trying to place blame on everyone else. If you made a mistake, it’s not a huge deal unless you don’t take responsibility and fix it. You will often be recognized for your quick thinking and ability to jump on a situation if you take the reins, so the mistake could end up working in your favor.
- Work Quickly AND Efficiently. Sure, you want to get things sorted out as soon as possible, but if you’re not working strategically and efficiently, it’s not worth it. No one will care that you’re working fast to remedy the situation if your fast work is riddled with errors and carelessness. Quality trumps everything in business; always.
- Make Note of What Went Wrong and Take Precautions So It Doesn’t Happen Again. Part of making mistakes is learning from them, so it is important that you do assess the situation to figure out exactly what went wrong. After you’ve taken care of all of the cleanup and have gotten everything smoothed out, take a few minutes to reflect on what happened. Go through the steps in your head to see what went wrong, where it went wrong, and note how to combat this in the future. No one is perfect, and the best you can do is learn from your mistakes.
You made a mistake, now what? Take a deep breath and move on. Once you’ve taken care of the aftermath to remedy the issue and ensure it doesn’t happen again, there is nothing else you can do. Try not to dwell on it, and do your best to move forward. This may be easier said than done, but it’s the truth. All you can do is your best, and sometimes things happen. It’s over and done. As my boyfriend always says, let it go, you’ll live longer.