“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
– Albert Einstein

Recall the last mistake you made. How did you handle it? Did you own up to it, and perhaps learn something from it? Or did you try to blame it on someone or something else and move on? If your response was the latter, you have plenty of company – it is the response of most people.

Most of us fear making mistakes, and when we do, we try to rationalize them away. The reality is, mistakes are a part of life and we should not live our lives in fear of making them. Rather we should learn from our mistakes or we run the risk of repeating them.

How can we learn from our mistakes?

I am dyslexic, and as a result, reading and writing are very tedious for me. I naturally struggle to comprehend what I am reading, and trying to capture my thoughts in writing is a real challenge.

While these are real issues for me, I have lived most of my life trying not to let others see my weaknesses. I have tried to appear as I perceived others to be – without weaknesses.

Why do we try so hard to not let others see our weak places? Why is it we always want to come across as strong and in control to those around us? Why do we deny our weak places when others point them out to us?

As I sit here in front of my computer writing this post it is wet, cold, gray and raining outside. It has not been dry or sunny here in weeks. To be honest, this could easily and quickly get old and downright depressing. The forecast for the next 10 days indicates the likelihood of some sun. Then again, this is the weather we’re talking about – something which we have no control over.

How many of us let something like the weather get us down to the point of being angry and depressed? The question is, why allow something like the weather, over which we have no control, make us angry and depressed?

Exhausted is an experience that is common to many of us, perhaps more so with those who have leadership responsibilities. Why is it that we seem to spend so much of our life being exhausted?

Life is demanding. Certainly there is much to get done. Surely we have to keep up, or we’ll be left behind . . . or so we think.

In our effort to keep up, we become exhausted, not enjoying the journey but only trying to achieve goals. Yet too often when we achieve a goal, we end up unfulfilled; so we take on more in pursuit of other elusive goals, all the while becoming more exhausted in the process.

I know I am four days late but nevertheless, let me welcome you to 2015. I imagine some of you are looking forward to 2015 with excitement because of the potential you believe it holds for you. Others of you are not excited about 2015 because the outlook does not look positive.

Whether you are excited or anxious, let me share some things you can do that will help make 2015 a wonderful and fulfilling year.

First, understand that you have the power to choose. This is a God-given power that even God will not override. That makes you the most powerful actor in your life.

As 2014 comes to a close, I imagine you are looking forward to what 2015 holds for you. You may have goals you want to achieve physically, spiritually, financially, professionally, and relationally.

Perhaps you have already set or begun setting those goals. Wherever you may be in the process, let me offer you a few suggestions:

Have you ever experienced shock and disbelief in hearing news about someone you know – or thought you knew? You can’t seem to get your head around connecting the shocking behavior with the person you know. This is especially true in cases of moral failure.

Have you ever been surprised to hear about someone you know doing something that took a great deal of courage? Perhaps they stood up to authority, or did not back down on a principle.

Usually the response in both cases would be, “I did not know they had it in them to do that.”

If you knew of one question to ask yourself that would have prevented you from making a major life mistake, would you have asked it?

What if you discovered that question today; would you use it to help avoid faulty decisions?

I think I just heard your response: “Well, duh!”

The question is available to you, and you can start using it immediately.

I came across the question in a book written by Andy Stanley of North Point Church in Atlanta. The book is titled, Ask It. The book is about this question and how it applies to your life.

Here is the question you are encouraged to ask before you make decisions that would affect you financially, spiritually, morally, physically and professionally.

Even with more technology to help, you are busier than ever. You never have enough time to do anything to your satisfaction.

You can’t seem to get on top of things at work; the to-do list at home keeps growing; time with loved ones is always limited. You sense the distance growing between you and your spouse. You have come to justify the lack of time with family because of busy-ness with the often used, “It’s not the quantity but the quality of the time spent together that matters.”

Take care of yourself? Impossible! You have no time to exercise, rest well, or eat properly. You always feel tired.

At some point we have had or will have a tough conversation. Whether with a friend, a neighbor, a colleague, or a family member, confrontation is never easy.

Because we dislike confrontation, and because it is so difficult, we often do anything to avoid it.

These conversations usually occur because you care about the person, you have been hurt, or you do not want someone else to get hurt.

Whatever the reason, confronting another person is never easy.

The reason we fear such conversations – and the reason it often goes poorly – is because we lack the tools of healthy confrontation.

Let me suggest some steps you can take to confront others in a healthy way.