One of your most valuable resources for attaining your goals. Making Mistakes One of your most valuable resources for attaining your goals.

Some things that require making mistakes… Learning Personal recognition Adventure Valuable relationships Accomplishing new goals Personal satisfaction Respect Happiness

Key Ingredient: Growth Mindset

Group Activity Top section of handout “A Mistake You Fear Making” Think of a task, an assignment, a challenge that you will be involved with during the next week Pick the situation during which you most want to AVOID making a mistake Write this on your worksheet Share with your group Choose one member from your group to share what your group comes up with

Novelty A result of a growth mindset Core characteristic of those who do things that others said could not be done Our brains try to conserve energy by seeking out what is already familiar Reinforces what often mistaken beliefs we have about the world and what’s possible Pursuing novelty is key to our success

Novelty Researcher Gregory Berns says: “To see things differently that other people, the most effective solution is to bombard the brain with things it has never encountered before. Novelty releases the perceptual process from the shackles of past experience and forces the brain to make new judgments.” (Berns, 2010, 8)

Novelty Not only does novelty give us a new way of perceiving and interpreting the world differently, it actually increases the levels of dopamine in the brain and physiologically creates a greater feeling of satisfaction (Berns, 2006).

Fear of Making Mistakes Trying new things can be scary Our brains want to be able to predict what will happen Novelty requires engaging in things we’re not yet good at We can learn new ways to understand our fears and choose to risk mistakes to be able to try new things, have new experiences Fears: looking bad, losing favor with others

Secret Antidote There is a way to change how you feel about making mistakes: Celebrate them! Acknowledge them openly Have a sense of humor Affirm yourself and others for taking risks Help each other to shift from being ashamed to being proud of the risks you take

Group Activity Bottom section of handout “Taking Risks” As a group, come up with at least 4 new things you could try as a way to practice novelty These would be things you would not normally do – which would increase the likelihood of making some mistakes Each member of your group contributes at least one example Choose one member from your group to share what your group comes up with

Your Mistakes Are Like Diamonds We don’t want to toss them away or hide them They have incredible value to us Like diamonds – hard to realize their value before they are cut and polished Powerful possibilities

HOMEWORK! Mind Your Mistakes & Mine Your Mistakes Watch for mistakes you make – 2 weeks! Then record on your worksheet record as many of the details that the worksheet is looking for about your mistakes This is also a contest with a prize!! Individual with the most points, and the Group with the most points

HOMEWORK! You can earn one point for gathering each of the following bits of information about your mistake: Describe the mistake Note if it was something you would not normally have done (Novelty) Indicate if you acknowledged the mistake to another person If someone witnessed your mistake, have them acknowledge it by signing their initials on your form If you learned something from your mistake, describe what you learned