by Casey Gueren
Being perfect is seriously overrated. Without a few awkward mishaps and total fails, you’d be missing out on some valuable learning experiences. So we asked six experts to tell us what mistakes every woman is bound to make at least once—and why that’s actually kind of a good thing.
Hey, you wanted to help, and you totally thought she would pay you back. But once you make this financial faux pas, you’ll realize the weight of it and also learn how to say no in the future, says money expert Liz Weston, author of The 10 Commandments of Money. Find out another money mistake you’re probably making.
Just thinking about it is enough to invoke a panic attack, right? Not only does it teach you to double check everything (especially at work), but it also reminds you to keep anything negative or derogatory out of print, says Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s career expert. Because once something is out there, you can’t always take it back.
This bedroom sin is a lesson in disguise. “You don’t have to beat yourself up over it, but now your partner may think what they did last time was amazing, which can be a slippery slope,” says sex expert Ian Kerner, Ph.D., author of She Comes First. But once you’ve realized that faking it doesn’t lead to more orgasms, you’ll realize that the alternative (communicating what really gets you off) is so much better. Learn how to stop having fake orgasms and start having real ones.
If you’re stretching yourself too thin at work and in your personal life, you’re eventually going to snap. The good news: Burning out helps you reassess your priorities and realize what’s important, says Elizabeth Lombardo, Ph.D., author of A Happy You. And sometimes it takes a small meltdown to realize when you’re taking on too much. Here are three signs you might be headed for a burnout.
If you’ve ever gossiped and had it get back to that person, you know how awful this feels. But this major flub also comes with a vital lesson: “It’s a great reminder not to get carried away with gossip,” says Andrea Bonior, Ph.D., author of The Friendship Fix. “It teaches you empathy and reminds you to be more mindful in the future.”
It’s almost inevitable—you get so love drunk that you kind of forget about everyone else. It’s unfair to blow off your friends for a relationship, says Bonior, but it’s also a crucial learning experience. “Eventually you’re going to realize just how much you gave up and how you were acting a little self-centered,” says Bonior. And the good news: You probably won’t do it again.
Let’s just hope it wasn’t a job interview. This classic blunder will happen to pretty much everyone eventually, says Bonior, whether you’re overdressed for a dinner party or way too casual for a cocktail party. Either way, it’s a great way to learn that sometimes you can make a silly mistake and just own it, says Bonior. Because killer confidence is going to get you noticed, no matter what you’re wearing. And chances are, you’ll remember to ask about the dress code next time. Here are five more tips to make an amazing first impression.
Read the rest at Women’s Health.
