Mea culpa.

Mistakes are painful, embarrassing at times, humiliating, humbling. Making mistakes can be torture for those who strive for rightness and excellence. The humiliation compounds when that mistake involves others.

I missed a meeting. I set the time and date and I missed it. There's no good excuse, no reasonable way to explain why. I missed it and I'm humiliated.

I strive to be on top of my game and juggle all the balls in the air, but sometimes the ball gets away from me, and this was one of those days. Here's my advice to self on this day of humbling:

◾ Admit the error. Avoid the tendency to lie, mislead, make excuses or otherwise try and save face. You messed up. Admit it.

◾ Ask for forgiveness. Apologize to the hurt or inconvenienced party and ask for forgiveness. People are more ready to extend grace than we sometimes realize.

◾ Forgive yourself. We are often quick to givemercy to others and slow to grant mercy to ourselves. Forgive yourself.

◾ Retrace your steps. Was there something that could have prevented the error? Was there a misstep in process? Is there an improvement that could be initiated? Where there's correction or improvement to be made, do it.

◾ Keep going. Dust the sand off your sandals and keep going. You aren't perfect and you'll make mistakes again. Strive to be excellent, put your shoes back on and keep going.

Chin up. Smile intact. Begin anew more humbled than before. Next time I am on the receiving end of a missed meeting, I'll be quicker to extend grace.

-Mindy Muller, CFRE, President/CEO of CDP

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