Learning from Mistakes

Beginning from our childhood, we all are given indicators that tell us how smart we are, like getting good grades in exams, getting into a good college, then getting into a big company, and so on and so forth. These indicators do not mean much until society tells us that

“oh! You got good grades, you are a smart student”

“oh! You got into a good college, you are a smart kid”

“oh! You got into such a great company, you must be really smart”

“oh! You are now the VP, man you gotta be smart to be there where you are”

Since we all know that “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” similarly knowing that we are smart, not only acts as a positive reinforcement which can help us move forward but also gives rise to many other negative traits which become part of our personality unknowingly.

One such trait is thinking that “we are not wrong”. The smarter we think we are, the stronger our belief that “we are infallible“ or “we can’t be wrong”.

It is true that smart people tend to make fewer mistakes but in our head, this information is translated very differently which is like this “Since I am smart, how can I be wrong. I do not know any smart person who makes mistakes”. The problem with thinking is not that it will hinder our growth ( we can and we will still, grow because we are smart ) instead the problem is that we will never reach our true potential.

No matter how smart we think we are, we all make mistakes, and sometimes the smarter we think we are, the bigger the impact/consequences of our mistakes.

In order, to fix this negative trait, the first step, is to accept our mistakes and the second step is to learn from these mistakes.

No matter how long back the mistakes were made, it is always good to do a retrospection, analyze our behavior and know our mistakes and then accept & learn from them.

At times, it is difficult for us to know whether we made a mistake or not and that’s when being a good listener while taking feedback from others is going to help us.

If we look around then there are people, who are genuinely interested in helping us like our teachers, bosses, family, and friends. These people are ready to give us feedback so that we can know and learn from our mistakes.

It is natural to be defensive, to be hurt, or to be ignorant of the fact that we made a mistake because the smarter we think we are, the stronger the belief that we are infallible but people who truly change and people who are truly successful in life ( physically and emotionally ) are the ones who are determined to acknowledge and learn from their mistakes.

Learning from our mistakes is a continuous cycle and it starts from the moment when we accept our mistakes and are ready to change.