My Mom is extremely creative and has a real gift with a sewing machine.
Growing up she used to make almost everything my sister and I wore. It was fantastic to have something that was totally mine and completely unique. No one else at school had clothes nearly as nice as mine.
So when I got older I begged her to show me how to sew.
This was her reply to my plea…
“I would love to teach you and I can show you everything I know but first, I want you rip out this seam out for me.”
She handed me a tiny little tool (her favorite seam ripper) and the largest piece of material I had ever seen. It was a huge quilted baby blanket (a gift for my cousin-to-be’s baby shower that weekend) and the lining had gotten caught and twisted underneath it.
As she pointed out the mistake and told me to be careful, Mom must have noticed the disheartened expression on my face. She walked off to help my sister with some homework and said, “If you’re not willing to use the seam ripper, then you will never really learn to sew.”
I made a disgruntled shoulder shrug and sat there for a minute pouting to no one. When I realized she wasn’t coming back to help me and she was serious, I went to work. (Child labor laws are in place because of this kind of thing right??)
2 hours later, dragging the blanket (now in 2 pieces) behind me, I strolled into the kitchen to proudly show her my work.
“Well done! Let’s go finish this blanket and make you a new skirt for the baby shower.”
Mom knew that in order for me to create something great, I needed to know that it was OK to make mistakes but that I would have to find a way to correct them.
The same goes for your business and life in general.
If you want to create something unique and wonderful, you need to be willing to fail, have the patience to figure out what went wrong and have the desire to get it right when you try again.
Be willing to use your own seam ripper or you will never know what amazing things you can create.
And just as a little side note:
Whenever I am home for a visit, my Mom and I spend the majority of our time in her sewing room, eating whatever junk food she has laying around (there is never a shortage of it!) and making new creations together. So I guess that little seam ripper did more than teach me some important life lessons, it gave my Mom and I another wonderful excuse to spend time together.
This is making me miss her… got to go and call home…
Make it a great day!
Erica
22. July 2010 at 11:56 am
Once again a fantastic post Erica! I love the way you use real life to create the lessons.
Experience IS a hard teacher – she gives you the test first & the lesson after!
Anyone who never fails at anything is not trying anything, the trick is not to make the same mistake twice. Learning by experience is exactly that – you need to experience it to be able to learn from it.
And YES, you are sooo right when you say it is the DESIRE to get it right that takes you back to try it again (something like asking a girl out on a date for the first time & she says no!)
Stay Inspired,
Michael
Michael B Wilbraham recently posted..The IAHBE Makes It Easier To Work At Home!
22. July 2010 at 1:44 pm
As always, I love your input! Thanks Michael. Cheers! Erica
22. July 2010 at 4:14 pm
That was a cute story! It reminded me of my mom cause she loves to sew.
Very good analogy Erica. I also thought of your mom as being a mentor in this industry. As a mentor we shouldn’t hold the hand of our new member but let them figure some things out on their own.
Thanks for sharing!
Erin
Erin Smith recently posted..Overcoming Your Fears
22. July 2010 at 5:42 pm
I completely agree Erin. Mom knew that if I wasn’t willing to learn to rip the seam out that I wasn’t worth investing her time in to teach me how to sew. We need as mentors, to know who is worth our time and our effort- that is usually the people who are willing to learn to help themselves.
Thanks for visiting! Now go and call your Mom! Cheers! Erica
22. July 2010 at 7:38 pm
Nice analogy, and such a valuable lesson to learn. Another lesson in this pot of gold, is “persistance pays off”. Instead of quitting and deciding it really wasn’t worth the effort to learn how to sew if you had to start by correcting a mistake, you were determined and committed enough to persist and rip our the quilt.
This is something that so many would be great entrepreneurs fail to acknowledge. They quit before the big break through.
Wendy recently posted..Commit to Success
23. July 2010 at 2:10 am
That is totally true Wendy. There are too many people out there living with What Ifs. Keep at it until you get it right or don’t start at all. Thanks for stopping by! Cheers! Erica