Everyone knows that we learn by doing – this is a timeless truth.  We also know that “learning by doing” is based on the premise that we are going to fail, learn, and try again.  It is imperative that we change the paradigm in school related to failure; we must instill in our students a willingness to fail.

We all make mistakes – big mistakes and little mistakes.  We misspeak, act out of emotion, and lose focus.  No one is at their best every moment of every day.  We must learn from our actions and strive to be better.  Some failures are known only to us – some mistakes are known to the masses – but each of us has an opportunity to get better and to grow, each and every day.

With discipline in our lives, by pressing pause to be intentional in our words and actions, we make better decision.  We can reflect on failure, identify our areas of weakness, and live lives of continual growth.  Don’t let past errors or failures bring you down . . . use them to lift you up to be a better version of you.  As adults there is nothing more powerful than modeling this for the young people in our lives.