now, no signup required!
One of the biggest mistakes we make is assuming that making a mistake is a massive failing on our part. Nobody likes to make a mistake, but that fact is that they are inevitable.
Ideally, we should be able to accept our mistakes with equanimity. But that is very rarely the case. We tend to overthink and overanalyze some of the mistakes we commit. It generally makes us miserable and stresses us out. So, maybe we ought to find a different way to think of the mistakes we make and learn to see their benefits. In other words, we should learn from our mistakes.
Examples Of Learning From Mistakes
It is no big secret that it is tough to learn from your mistakes. No one likes to make mistakes and lose time, energy, or, at times, even serious amounts of money. This is why we need to put effort into learning from mistakes that we wish we did not make.
However, the habit of learning from your mistakes does not develop overnight. It needs introspection, patience and reflection. Learning from mistakes begins with accepting that we did make a mistake. This is a hard thing to accept and is among the many reasons we try our best to shield ourselves when we make a mistake.
-
We feel vulnerable. We do not like to be in vulnerable positions. We fear being at a disadvantage in any situation
-
Social ignorance may not forgive us. Mistakes that lead us to be at odds with social norms can make us feel threatened
Ways Of Learning From Mistakes
Let’s look at an example of learning from mistakes. This will help you learn from your mistakes as well as others’.
1. We do not know everything
Aruna and Arjun are well-educated and successful professionals with a seven-year-old daughter, Ayisha. They were the go-to people for family and friends facing any issue. Aruna and Arjun were incisive with their advice and had good people skills to make others feel comfortable and reassured. They thought they could never make a mistake.
However, when their daughter, Aiysha, began to show signs of difficulties learning social skills, they realized that they had taken their daughter’s healthy growth for granted. The sudden realization that they had mishandled Aiysha’s early years by not properly nurturing a child’s needs shook them to the core.
Soon, they corrected their course and took their daughter to regular therapy sessions. Both made an active effort to make more time for Ayisha out of their busy professional lives.
There are several examples of learning from mistakes examples in our everyday lives. You have to be humble enough to acknowledge that you do not know everything, and know that there are ways to learn from your mistakes and learn from others’ mistakes.
2. Keep Improving Your Learning Curve
Learning from mistakes is a constant process of enriching your experience. If you keep ignoring the fact that there is merit in learning from mistakes, you will never get any better at what you do.
We all know the consequences of running away from the hard things in life—be it taking the time to do what is necessary for your well-being, saving money, building your career or investing time in relationships. These are all steps that are never easy to accomplish. And there will be many occasions when you will make a mistake. But that is no reason to avoid going ahead and giving a shot at a fulfilling life.
Why You Should Learn From Your Mistakes
-
Mistakes always point us to something we never knew or realized until then. Errors tend to reveal nuances that we overlook otherwise
-
Learning from mistakes deepens our knowledge and enhance our skill levels. They help us see what matters and what does not.
-
When we make a mistake, we learn a little more about ourselves and our values. It reminds us that we are only human, with shortcomings and frailty.
-
When we learn from others’ mistakes, it can teach us to value forgiveness and instill compassion for others. It keeps us connected to what works and what doesn’t.
-
Mistakes can point out problems in our lives and encourage us to learn more about ourselves, reminding us just how much we are like others.
Conclusion
Learning from mistakes is a continuing process that creates and maintains a balance in our lives. It can expose our true feelings and reveal what we are looking for from life. If you put your mind to it, it is not very difficult to learn from your mistakes or learn from others’ mistakes.
Harappa Education offers an excellent online course called Establishing Trust that gives you the tools to build and maintain trusting relationships, helping you focus on credibility and openness. It teaches the way to honor your commitments and to be empathetic. It has a section on a concept called The Trust Toolkit to assess, score and map trustworthiness. When we begin learning from mistakes, we start the journey of trusting ourselves, revealing our blind spots and recognizing our authentic selves, and move forward in a more creative direction.
Explore topics such as How to Say Sorry, Office Politics, Work Culture & Types of Corporate Culture from our Harappa Diaries section.
