“Mistakes are proof you’re trying.”
This was a simple and profound sentence my son spoke. He said he heard this from his teacher. My children are taught a growth mindset at home and at school. This time, these words were what I needed to hear.
I was studying for my third actuarial exam, and studying was not going well. I was getting more problems wrong than right. My exam date was fast approaching and I did not feel great about it. The more problems I got wrong, the less I wanted to practice.
I had taken on so much this year. I was developing in my career; restarting on the exam track and took on new responsibilities. It was feeling really big. Too big. Impostor syndrome was crashing back into my life in a very strong way and I didn’t know how to stop it.
Then my son spoke those words. And I knew that no matter how many problems I got wrong, I had to keep trying. I continued to make mistakes. I continued to try.
I did not pass, yet, but I know that I tried. And I will continue to try. I am always pushing my limits, and it is only in failures that I will be able to break those limits.
