If you’ve ever replayed a mistake in your head on loop, welcome. You’re human.
One of the biggest drains on our mental energy isn’t the job itself; it’s the replay. The again of that one thing you said, did, broke, missed, forgot, measured wrong, explained badly… You get the idea.
And here’s the thing: your brain isn’t doing that to be annoying. It’s doing it to protect you.
We still have that primitive wiring. The same survival brain our caveman ancestors had. Its main job? Keep you alive. Back then, if you made a mistake, it could literally kill you. So, your brain evolved to obsess over errors so you wouldn’t repeat them.
Fast forward to now, spelling a word wrong, snapping a piston ring, missing a grease nipple, cracking a panel, or fumbling a presentation isn’t life-threatening. But your nervous system reacts like it is. It wants to make sure you don’t “die,” so it replays the mistake, trying to squeeze a lesson out of it.
And if you don’t consciously take the lesson?
It keeps replaying.
That replay costs mental energy. And you only get so much of that each day.
Yes, you can build resilience. Yes, some things recharge you and some things drain you. But sitting there mentally re-watching a mistake from three days ago is not a productive use of your energy.
So instead of trying to force yourself to “just stop thinking about it” (which never works), we give your brain what it wants: a structured lesson.
This is a framework I learned from Stacey Boehman. She teaches it in a business context, but it works beautifully on the tools.
Three questions:
1. What worked?
2. What didn’t work?
3. What would I do differently?
That’s it.
Let’s use a mechanical example because that’s my world.
You’re servicing an engine. There’s an expected time frame. You’ve got your parts ready.
What worked?
You finished 20 minutes faster than last time. You ordered all the correct parts. Your workflow felt smoother.
What didn’t work?
You missed a couple of grease nipples, and the customer pointed it out.
What would you do differently?
Do a final grease-point check before sign-off. Maybe look in the manual to see if there’s a grease map.
Done.
Lesson extracted. Brain satisfied.
When you run this process, you’re telling your nervous system: “We learned. We adjusted. We’re safer now.” And it can stop sounding the alarm.
This is especially important as an apprentice because you will make mistakes. You’re doing jobs for the first time. You’re pushing yourself. You’re learning under pressure.
But even when you’re qualified, you’ll still mess things up occasionally. You’ll rush an engine rebuild and snap a piston ring. You’ll crack something that was just repaired. You’ll forget a step. You’ll explain something poorly in front of a room full of people. You’ll make a decision in your personal life you wish you hadn’t.
I’ve done all the above.
I once cracked freshly repaired panels because I didn’t secure a gas strut properly and a gust of wind took it down. I’ve snapped a $500 piston ring trying to rush a rebuild. I’ve broken a sump rail. I’ve stood in front of students with tech failing and had to wing it.
I could replay those forever.
Or I can process them.
What worked?
What didn’t work?
What would I do differently?
Then I move on.
Final Thoughts
If you’re reading this, I know something about you. You want to be good at what you do. You want to improve. You want to put your best foot forward.
And you can’t do that with a head full of old replays.
You need your mental energy for today’s job. For safety. For awareness. For growth. For being a decent human.
So next time your brain starts looping something, don’t shove it aside. Don’t shame yourself. Sit down. Run the three questions. Extract the lesson properly.
Then let it live in the past.
If you’re a tradeswoman or tradesperson who’d like some help navigating this journey, I’d love to chat. You can book a coaching consultation with me here:
https://calendly.com/louise-azzopardi/coaching_consult
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