Making mistakes

We all do it, some of course more than others.   Making mistakes, yep it's called life lessons.  I wanted to talk about the fear of making a mistake today because so many people ask me questions and then don't do anything.  The fear of making a mistake is great in many people.  Often they ask a dozen or more people the same question and then remain frozen, unable to take the leap.  Making mistakes if very  human, in fact when I make a mistake I commonly say "I'm only human."  Mistakes are important.

There are many different levels of mistakes.  Some are small, little whoooops all the way up to catastrophic ones.  When we are young we make many more mistakes, it makes sense.  We are suppose to learn through our mistakes so as we make them we should be learning right?  Not always sadly, many people just keep making the same mistake over and over and over.  They never sit back and look at how it's all working out for them.  If you are attempting something, anything really and you have made several attempts with no success; you must assess.

Feeling unsure as you attempt something new can be scary, but it should never stop you from trying.  Take feeding your dog real food; lots of people ask and ask and ask.  They wait years before doing it, afraid that they will get it wrong.  I completely understand this; our society has been brain washed into thinking that we can't just give our dogs real food.  The big dog food conglomerates have drilled into our head that they are the only ones who have the most perfectly balanced food with the precise nutrition that our dogs need.  BS!!!!!!!!

Research, research, research !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No one can know everything, not even close.  But you can learn a great deal by reading, listening and asking.  Take from what you learn what makes you feel comfortable and as NIKE says 'JUST DO IT.'  Sure you are going to make mistakes a long the way, you wouldn't be human if you didn't.

The food thing was just an example; I'm talking about pretty much everything having to do with dogs.  Grooming, training, health or anything else for that matter.  A very long time ago I read a question that my twin brother posted "what would you do if you had no fear?"  It was relating to the things in life that we don't do because we are afraid of doing it wrong.  The "what ifs?"  Admittedly I am a great "what if 'r" but it mostly comes into play when there could be any sort of danger situation, but not always.  Over the years I have made many mistakes and as I get older I have learned a great deal.  It's okay to be a "what if 'r" if it doesn't stop you.  Thinking first is always the best idea.   So many people make huge mistakes by acting, speaking or leaping without thinking first.

I guess where I'm going this morning with this is that we all make mistakes.  Humans make mistakes, bottom line.  But the fear of making a mistake should never stop us from trying.  I've known many harsh type trainers over the years who get work by making their clients feel like they couldn't do it.  As a trainer it is our job to make sure that you can and give you enough information to make you feel like you can do it. Lots of times over the years after being told by a client "I can't do this," I tell them "YES YOU CAN."  We then go through it and make sure that they feel like they can.

When you venture into unknown territory, keep your head down, read and learn.  Then take what you've learned, keep your head up and try.  Life is way to short not to at least try.