Dealing with mistakes professionally can provide a healthy “awakening for the soul” which may also help us remain humble. While I understand that I have mistakes ahead of me, I’ve learned that when mistakes are made, it is most important to apologize and compensate if needed. The next step is to make sure the mistake is not repeated.

Learning to apologize even if one believes they’re partially right, can be liberating. It lifts a load off one’s shoulders and brings fruitless debates and hurt feelings to an end. It can be a fabulous point to build from and often provides an opportunity to develop a better relationship with the other person.

It’s also good to laugh at yourself for certain mistakes (when it’s not inappropriate or disrespectful, of course). When those who surround us or even answer to us discover that we’re human, it connects us to a large degree with being genuine. And besides, some of the best laughs result from our own silly little mistakes.

Mistakes sometimes require compensation. I learned in my early years to beat my patient to the punch by offering to redo something they didn’t like. In the grand scheme of life and business, a few replaced crowns or even thousands of dollars if larger mistakes are made, become “pennies” in light of a relationship that continues to grow.

Albert Einstein once said: “Make new mistakes”. I do believe that if one is pushing through new frontiers, even going places humans haven’t gone before, mistakes will be made. To this end, I hope to be making new mistakes as I turn the finale marker of my 60s.

Dan