I realized halfway through the work that I had misunderstood the instructions.
At first, I thought I could still fix it quietly. I reread the message again, hoping I was wrong. But the more I checked, the clearer it became — I had been doing the wrong thing for almost an hour.
My first reaction was frustration. Not at anyone else, but at myself. The instructions were there from the beginning. I just assumed I understood them and moved too quickly.
For a moment, I considered continuing anyway. Maybe I could adjust it at the end and no one would notice the delay. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that would only make things worse.
So I stopped.
I went back, read the instructions carefully, and started again from the beginning. It felt annoying to redo something I had already spent time on, but at least now I knew I was heading in the right direction.
Later, when the work was finished, the lesson was obvious.
Moving fast doesn’t always mean moving forward. Sometimes you’re just going in the wrong direction quicker. A few minutes of understanding can save hours of correction.
Since then, whenever I start something new, I slow down first. Because starting right is always easier than fixing it later.
This story is fictional and written to share a life lesson.
