Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. We've interviewed over 100 authors, experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and others to help you learn strategies to care for your mental health.

This episode is hosted by psychotherapist and bestselling author Amy Morin. Now let's get into the episode.

Okay. You're listening to the Friday fix.

Every Friday, I share a quick mental strength exercise that will help fix the thoughts,

emotions, and actions that drain you of the mental strength you need to be your best.

Talking about how to stop making the same mistakes over and over again. It's an issue I address in my therapy office, and, if I'm honest, in my own life, quite often. I wrote a whole chapter

about it in my book, 13 things mentally strong people don't do,

because repeating your mistakes drains you of mental strength. It's likely almost all of us

have said, I'll never do that again, only to find ourselves doing that very thing not long after.

Maybe you told yourself to stop saying yes to things you don't really want to do.

But just a few days later, you find yourself agreeing to go to your friend's grandmother's retirement

party, even though you have no desire to go. Or maybe you decided you're going to start eating better.

But after a rough day at the office, you eat an entire package of cookies and decide that tomorrow

you're going to make

healthier choices. But next week, the same thing happens. And you start to believe that you just

don't have the willpower to become healthier. When you're creating a new habit or you're

working toward a new goal or giving up an unhealthy habit or even trying something new,

mistakes are part of the process.

The way that you respond to those mistakes, however,

is what determines whether you'll learn from them or whether you're just going to repeat them.

So if you were like most kids, your parents and your teachers may have accidentally encouraged

you to hide your mistakes.

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