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IGNITE Our Mistakes

GOTRKC

IGNITE Our Mistakes

By Shayla A

Ignite our mistakes. Celebrate our mistakes! Upon first writing this, celebrating our mistakes feels uncomfortable. It feels like a contradictory statement. My brain says, “That’s not right.” But, it is right! It is the exact thing we need to learn how to do! It is the exact thing where we form a new habit. Accepting mistakes as a growing experience boosts our morale and builds our resiliency to hardships. There is some brain science to support this new habit of celebrating our mistakes and how it will alter your life. Practicing new healthy habits promotes better self-care and encourages a positive mindset. It is our goal this season to change lives by empowering confidence and resilience in our GOTR girls. Learning how to celebrate our mistakes makes us stronger, smarter, and more capable of accomplishing unimaginable things!

Two things happen in our brains when we make mistakes: our brain learns and our brain grows. These two events happen subconsciously and within milliseconds. We don’t have to tell ourselves, “THAT was a mistake!” Our brain already decided it was a mistake before we can even say it to ourselves. When we make a mistake, our brains have an immediate response and signals the rest of the body to not do - what it just did - ever again. When we make a mistake, our brains create calculations in the medial frontal cortex- the front part of our brain that does the critical thinking and learning. We learn more about ourselves, the limits of our own skills, and the limits of our knowledge. We learn what it is that we need to keep learning. When we learn something, our brain grows. Our brain grows by forming new synapses and pathways to past knowledge and experiences. The new synapses that are created are connected to old synapses. This alters the perceptions we have of our own abilities. It can be a positive or negative experience. This is why it is so very important to celebrate mistakes! We want to reward our brain, release endorphins, and keep it growing!

Shifting our mindset is the easiest way to build positive synapses when we make a mistake. GOTR empowers us to have a growth mindset. The power of “YET” is life-changing. I remember when my daughter was learning about having a growth mindset in first grade. Her response to any challenge or activity was, “I can’t do it … YET! … But watch me … NOW!” My memory also recalls going through some big life challenges at the time and needing to utilize the little word “yet.” It relieved the pressure of having it all figured out or completed. It allowed my brain to relax, calmed my anxiety, and cleared my thoughts. Growth mindset has to be introduced and learned, otherwise, the brain responds with negativity when we make a mistake. When we repeatedly use the word “yet” out loud with our GOTR team, we are helping them create new positive synapses. We are shifting their inner dialogue. We are empowering them to learn from their mistakes by taking away a time expectation to meet a hard goal. We are encouraging them to not give up and keep pushing forward! We are celebrating the process and journey by showing them each step puts us closer to our goal and makes us stronger for our next challenge!

We learn more from our failures than what we learn from our successes. Our brain catalogs successes differently than it catalogs mistakes. Studies have shown students learn more and retain information better when they make mistakes on an essay or test. The brain has to figure out what went wrong, why it went wrong, how to fix it and do it better next time. This grows the brain and grows our confidence. Feeling failure does not always feel fine. Making mistakes is not always motivating. It requires a mindshift and practice to analyze a mistake. It requires self-reflection and self-care to embrace a celebration of our mistakes. Celebrating puts positive energy towards what we are conditioned to believe about mistakes being bad and uncomfortable. Celebrating our mistakes will create new brain pathways and a healthy mindset. Celebrating our mistakes changes our attitude and alters our life choices to do things better. Embrace the mistakes as learning opportunities and brain growth! Empower your girls to grow their brain each practice by being positive with their mistakes! Celebrate the growth!

Shayla A is the Coach Mentor for Girls on the Run Greater Kansas City. Her background comes from the classroom, coaching, day treatment schools, wellness, and advocating for children with special needs. She enjoys empowering and advocating for girls and coaches in every challenge and celebration. Connect with her for support and assistance this season via call, text, or email. shaylaaranda@gmail.com | 816-284-9770

RESOURCE LIST TO IGNITE OUR MISTAKES: