Dean Smith, the Hall of Fame retired basketball coach of the University of North Carolina, is among the coaches I admire most. We go way back. I started studying him 50 years ago.

I ran across his approach to dealing with a mistake.

Recognize It– winners avoid repeating mistakes. They are experts at analyzing their actions and identifying those which contribute to poor performance

Admit It-winners are humble enough to call a shortcoming what it is. One with an attitude of admitting mistakes readily creates an opening for better results next time. Stubborn players don’t admit their mistakes. They are easy to beat.

 Learn From It– mistakes are obstacles to peak performance. Removing obstacles is much easier that compensating for shortcomings. Winners starkly evaluate mistakes, develop plans to eliminate them and are disciplined in implementing those plans.

Forget It-winners move on to the next play, the next game and the next season. Winners know mistakes happen. Winners know that mistakes sometimes cause loss. Winners know that there’s nothing gained by remaining tied to the mistake while the rest of the world continues on.

Deal with mistakes. Don’t carry them around with you. You’ll be more effective if you do.