Change your assumptions about mistakes. Don't regard mistakes as a reflection of your personal shortcomings. People are typically afraid of making mistakes because they consider a mistake indicative of a personal flaw. If the mistake is made in a public setting, such as during a musical performance or a public speech, one feels embarrassed or even has difficulty completing the task at hand. The reality is that everyone makes mistakes. In some cases mistakes are the result of inadequate preparation but it other cases mistakes occur when we take risks and try new things.
Take advantage of the learning potential of mistakes. A common experience for many musicians and artists is to stumble upon an idea or concept by accident or, in other words, through making a mistake. The great 20th-century Russian composer Igor Stravinsky credits mistakes and pursuing false assumptions as the primary source of success as a composer. In an education context, an article in the "Scientific American" challenges the traditional assumption that students learn best in a error-free environment.
Read what well-known writers, musicians, educators, political theorists and scientists say about their experience with mistakes (See creativequotations.com in Resources). Take the time to learn about the ways creative people evaluate the role of mistakes in human life and human choices. People as varied as the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw; Katherine Graham, the founder of the Washington Post; and Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; regarded the potential for making mistakes worth the risk. The desire to avoid mistakes can easily lead to a trap in which we don't accomplish anything.