For a long time, I was afraid of making mistakes.
And, honestly, I think that’s a common feeling for anyone starting any journey, especially when venturing abroad, far from everything familiar.
The problem is that this fear, when it dominates, paralyzes. It makes us believe that mistakes are the end, when in fact they are an inevitable part of the process. You will make mistakes.
The difference lies in how you react afterward.
At the beginning of SEDA, I thought I needed to get it right all the time. I wanted everything to work quickly, for every decision to be perfect. But entrepreneurship is not a predictable script, it’s a constant exercise of trial, adjustment, and learning.
And it was by making mistakes—many times, and in different ways—that I learned the most important lessons.
Mistakes teach you what success doesn’t show: the limits, the flaws in the plan, the truths about who you are when things don’t go as expected.
Over time, I realized that the mistake itself doesn’t destroy you; what destroys you is pride.
A mistake only becomes a failure when it’s not faced head-on.
When we try to hide, justify, or blame someone, we lose the opportunity to learn.
But when you acknowledge it, analyze it, and transform it into action, the mistake becomes experience. Learning to deal with it is what separates those who evolve from those who repeat the same stumbles.
Ireland taught me a lot about this. In a country with a more patient and learning-oriented culture, I realized that making mistakes isn’t shameful; it’s part of growth.
Here, mistakes are treated naturally, as a stepping stone, not as a label.
And this made me understand that professional and emotional maturity comes precisely from the ability to start over.
Each failure I experienced prepared me to better handle the next ones, and each wrong decision taught me something I would never have learned if everything had gone right.
Today, when I talk to entrepreneurs or students, I like to remind them: making mistakes is inevitable, but suffering because of them is optional.
What defines the future is not the number of mistakes we make, but our willingness to learn from them. Mistakes don’t define you, they shape you.
If I could give one piece of advice to someone starting out, it would be this: embrace mistakes as part of the journey.
They are the price of progress, the fuel of innovation, and the greatest teacher you will ever find.
Because, in the end, those who learn to deal with mistakes also learn to deal with life with less fear, more ease, and much more wisdom.
