Making a Mistake: How to Learn From Mistakes

A mistake is an error in judgment or action. People often make mistakes accidentally due to a miscalculation. Maybe you thought you knew something but didn’t have all the information or simply misjudged what you needed to do. Sometimes mistakes are due to forgetfulness or carelessness. Mistakes are also subjective; what one person considers a mistake, another may view differently.

Because mistakes often have shame attached to them, you might want to put your blunder behind you as soon as possible and move on. But mistakes are inevitable: If you can view them as a chance to learn and improve, they can prevent you from making the same slip-ups in the future.

The willingness to learn from your mistakes is a valuable trait, especially when it comes to work and relationships. It shows that you’re willing to do the work to improve yourself and increases trust. Viewing mistakes as a positive experience can reduce your fear of failure and bolster your confidence. Check out these tips from various MasterClass instructors on how to deal with failure.

Learning from your mistakes requires a certain amount of self-discipline, but it can improve many areas of your life. Here is a step-by-step guide to learning from your mistakes:

1. 1. Acknowledge your mistakes. Before you can learn anything, you have to admit that you’ve made a mistake. If you need to apologize to someone for your mistake, do so. The person you’ve wronged may respect your honesty. Admitting you did something wrong may relieve you of the burden of carrying your flub by yourself or fearing the consequences. Apologizing indicates that you’re willing to take responsibility and want to improve.
2. 2. Reframe your mistakes into lessons. You might want to run, hide, or blame others for your big mistake. You might feel embarrassed or ashamed. So before you do anything else, let yourself off the hook. Acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes, that the error wasn’t intentional, and that mistakes can be learning experiences and life lessons. Learn to embrace mistakes and shift your thinking into a place of wanting to discover ways to improve and prevent them from happening in the future.
3. 3. Analyze your mistakes. Take a deep breath, step back, and examine what caused the mistake. Ask yourself what you were trying to do, what went wrong, and why. Understanding how it happened will help you make different choices in the future, so similar mistakes don’t happen again.
4. 4. Ask for help. Sometimes you might not be able to determine what happened on your own. In this case, you may find it helpful to reach out to friends, team members, or coworkers to help identify your misstep and suggest how to improve. They may have experience with their own mistakes that they can pass on to you. An accountability partner can help you stay on track with your improvement plans.
5. 5. Identify the lessons. Identifying the knowledge, skills, or tools required to avoid repeating your mistake is the key to improvement. Seeing the gaps in your knowledge or process will show you where to apply your energy.
6. 6. Put lessons learned into practice. It’s time to put your lessons into practice. You may need to improve your interpersonal communication skills or study relevant information. You may need to learn new strategies for workflow, make action plans, or develop new routines or habits. Recognize that trying something new for the first time is complex, and imperfection is a part of learning. Set realistic goals and adjust your course of action through trial and error as you go. Learn more about setting goals.
7. 7. Track your progress. Keeping track of your journey will boost your self-esteem and give you a sense of pride in your growth. Pay attention to what’s working and identify areas that still need improvement.
8. 8. Keep a growth mindset. A growth mindset means accepting that there will always be more for you to learn. This positive frame of mind will help you view mistakes not as failures but as learning opportunities for personal development. Developing a growth mindset is key to avoiding the curse of perfectionism and motivating yourself to continue learning new lessons and improving.

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