A Profitable Mistake

Aug 11
08:27

2009

Paul Thurman

Paul Thurman

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Once I was terrified to make a mistake in my professional life. Read this article to discover why I completely changed my mind.

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It was a Saturday and my wife was absolutely stir crazy to just get out of the house and go somewhere. I shared her anxiety; we'd not been out to do anything fun for over two weeks. Between colds that wouldn't go away,A Profitable Mistake Articles three demanding children, and the never-ending quest to find the magic formula that'll make all our money concerns disappear, my wife and I had become isolated prisoners.

Thirty minutes after we woke found us scurrying pall mall around the house grabbing everything we could think of to guarantee a wonderful day out. When we're in grab mode it's my responsibility to grab the GPS (my wife and I are notorious for getting lost ). As I grabbed the compact unit I realised that I hadn't charged it up in a very long time. "No problemo!" I thought. After all I could always plug it into the cigarette lighter and let it charge en route. Without a second thought I tossed the unit into my pocket and jumped in the car. We couldn't get out of the drive way fast enough!

When my wife and I go out together every minute is precious because we never know when our next special time will be. So, before we get to whatever entertainment we've planned for the day, we make the best use of our travelling time by sharing our hearts with one another.

After turning on the GPS and noting that the display light was shining healthily we began our conversation. Though so much had been going on in both of our minds over the last couple of weeks, we'd both come to some of the same conclusions about some very important life decisions. As we talked and laughed we quickly lost track of time. Time didn't become a reality to me again until my wife said, "It's been awhile since I've heard anything from the GPS, so I've just continued on. But I'm pretty sure that we're in the wrong place."

The time on the digital clock revealed that we'd been on the road for an hour and a half. We were supposed to be at our destination in just under two hours! Crap on toast! I grabbed the GPS to find out what the estimated time of arrival was only to find that the LED light had faded out. I quickly plugged it into the cigarette lighter and re-typed in our desired place. Turned out the unit must've been inactive for quite awhile because we were still just two hours short of where we were going! Whilst we'd talked and dreamed together we'd ended up in completely the opposite direction.

Once the GPS was reset we went right back to where we'd left off in talking over our dreams (all though I made sure to keep my eye on the GPS this time). By the time we reached our destination both of us were vibrant and excited. We knew something magical had happened and that we'd agreed on some changes that would change our lives forever. Changes that would skyrocket us to exactly where we wanted to be in life.

That evening, as I looked back fondly over the day I was overwhelmed with wonder. My life was changed by one silly mistake. As I pondered this, I began to question myself about why I'd remained virtually frozen over the last five years so desperately afraid that any mistakes I made would only scream failure to anyone I met. But in reality the opposite was true. My lack of motivation and daring was doing that already

From that point on I chose to get out there and just do it. No more looking back or toe dipping. I began to look forward to times when I got results far different than I intended. For each time I did I learned something of great value. That something might've set me back initially, but if I persevered in understanding the results of my actions it always ended in me moving forward.

Today I'm proud to announce that I'm making a great many mistakes. And I'm making them with a smile on my face knowing that I'm always moving to the next level and evolving as a person. My financial burdens haven't yet lifted, but I now know it's just a matter of time. All I need to do is concentrate on my ever expanding goals and learn from my errors.

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