Live and Learn.

Lesson Learned. Sure by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Are you an optimist? Studies say that they live longer, are healthier and happier than their pessimistic colleagues. But it can be tough to do.

Take yesterday for example. I had written an interesting article about “constant improvement” and how choosing to improve yourself makes the process much more enjoyable and fun than having it forced upon you by the outside world.

Sadly however – I apparently didn’t check when I copied it onto another document, and I lost the article. Even when you only spend 15 minutes writing that can be frustrating, but when it’s longer it really hurts.

At first I was really mad. Stupid software! Stupid computer! But alas, the truth is that the fault lies with me. I should have double-checked, like I usually do, to make sure I had properly saved the information. I should have made sure, like I usually do, that I saved the original as a back-up until I posted the article. But I didn’t.

Sure I’d like to put the blame on someone or something else – like the software or computer I was using, but that’s not being honest. And – I’m trying to make some of those constant improvements to myself. I am already an optimist, but I still tend to try and put the blame for failure on people or things outside of myself.

So now, I’m admitting it. I messed up. I didn’t pay attention. I let being tired and hurrying to complete my project get in the way of doing things right. I took a shortcut and it back-fired. Okay, no big deal.

But I bet you the next time, after acknowledging my role in this, I’ll be a lot more careful. Next time I’ll pay more attention and do it right. Next time, you’ll actually enjoy reading what I’ve written. Meanwhile at least this will be good for a laugh!