Have you noticed that when you make a mistake, the easiest thing to do is to try and justify your actions. It seems to be human nature to try and cover up errors in some way.

(This does not mean that you always follow the easy way).

Perhaps this is because of fear (of being thought less of, or of facing the consequences). For whatever reason, the spontaneous reaction of an untrained mind is usually to think of a way to justify one’s action when an error has been committed and so avoid confrontation.

This can especially happen when the faux pax carries a great consequence.

Today I attended a meeting that turned into a master mind session. It was great. I believe it was the beginning of good things to come.

One of the areas which the leader was focusing on was how to identify the real problem (the root cause) when there are conflicts and difficulties in the workings of a team.

Immediately one of those rare moments of inspiration flashed into my mind and I said:

Don’t justify but rather identify.

Today let’s apply this to our personal lives.

Don’t justify, but rather identify means that you and I will need:

Courage - to own the mistake. Nothing can be achieved by looking for a scapegoat.

No problem or situation can ever be resolved when all we do is look for someone or something to blame. You know that “he made me do it” syndrome, or “it happened because I did not have the adequate support” (attempting to justify the mistake).

Absolute honesty – to face the mistake and admit it. This means you recognize and own the situation instead of trying to justify it. Now you are ready to identify how it happened and how you can correct it.

Humility - to admit that you too (and yes me too of course can be wrong sometimes.

We have already considered fear as a reason that we sometimes may try to justify a mistake. Fear can also sometimes be a form of pride. (Fear of a weakness being exposed).

All of this can be summed up in two words – NO EXCUSES.

Instead of trying to justify and excuse the faux pax, let’s spend the energy on learning from it. Let’s seek to identify the cause.

Here are some questions that will help you identify why the error may have happen and what you can do to avoid recurrences. Write them down in your journal:

• What can I learn from this? (It might be that you need to sharpen a certain skill).

• What area of my life needs to be strengthened? (It might be that you need to become more alert and focused in your mind.)

• What precautions can I take to avoid making the same mistake again?

These questions will get your creativity started and your mind focused on identifying solutions instead of justifying and blaming.