We often make mistakes in our life, almost daily, be it small or big. Many times we even do not realise that we have made a mistake. It is natural for humans to make mistakes because mistakes just happen. However, do you know what is the biggest mistake we do in our life? It is not learning from your mistakes.
Mistakes are acceptable and forgiven if it is done once or twice, but if done repeatedly, it is the sign of complete ignorance. Mistakes provide an opportunity to realize and correct ourselves from our wrongdoings. When you have a realization of your mistakes it gives you a pinch. It irks your consciousness and thoughts and that pinch prevents you from repeating the same mistake.
However, you should never carry the guilt of that mistake. When you are in guilt, you also live in fear for the outcome and to cover up for the mistake you tend to open the possibilities of messing up more.
In this similar context, a question was asked by a person to a very famous spiritual leader Sri Ravishankar in one of his sessions: ‘The only mistake I make is that I keep on making mistakes. What should I do?’. So To this question, he replied: “It is alright to make a mistake. So Making a mistake is a part of life. Sometimes a mistake happens; it happens. Fine! Accept it and move ahead. The pain of making the same mistake, again and again, itself is good enough to take you out of the same mistake. The pain and pinch of suffering will make you come out of that. But never justify your mistake.”
His elaboration on the difference between guilt and pain: Guilt is about a specific action and pinch is about a specific result or happening. You can only feel guilty about what you did and not about what happened. But whatever happened, whether because of you or someone else can cause a pinch in you.
And also on how we can free ourselves from guilt: “See, if you have done a mistake in the past, it was at the time when you did not know when you are ignorant. so a mistake done in ignorance should not be considered at all – it is done, gone, finished. So You are a new person now, move on. As long as you do not repeat it, it’s okay. Through wisdom, by knowing the nature of mind, nature of consciousness and from a broader perspective of the phenomenon, you can get over the guilt.”
Learning from your mistakes is a process of self-realization, thinking and reflection on your further actions. Let us talk about the key values of learning from mistakes.
WHAT’S IN IT
Take Ownership of Your Mistake
It is hard to admit your own mistakes. It takes courage to do that. You have to leave behind your ego and pride. So You need to take responsibility for your mistakes and be able to stand up in front of the world honestly admitting that “Yeah this is my mistake and I am solely responsible for this.
This will give you the strength to act forward and also earn respect from others. Initially, you may have that fear of appearing weak but later, you will come out as a stronger person. At least it is better to come clean than to hide your errors which may lead to a series of errors and your loss of integrity among people.
Do Not Blame Others for Your Mistake
As already discussed in the above point of taking ownership of your mistake, you should not blame others for the mistakes you committed. So You need to understand that every person in this world is responsible for their actions and outcomes. People take decisions or actions based on their level of consciousness and intellect. So, you cannot point fingers at others for your actions.
If you blame that you took some actions based on the influence of some other person, but still, in the end, it was your consciousness of your mind only to believe that person or get influenced by him. You take some actions, it may go well or it may turn out to be a big mistake. That is how the nature of this life is. But, whatever the consequence is you should be able to face it and take complete responsibility for it because blaming others for your situation is not going to help you.
Do Not Give Excuses for Your Mistakes
Again, giving excuse is a sign of a weaker character. A mistake is a mistake not a crime, so, giving excuses and justifications will not help your case. A mistake is an action that already happened, now, instead of giving excuses, evaluate the root cause, and look at how you can rectify it.
Do not Find Intentions Behind Other People’s Mistakes
The definition of mistake will not change whether it is committed by you or other people. It is usually human nature to find the intention behind other people mistakes while giving excuses for their ones. You should do neither of them. Nobody commits a mistake to commit a mistake. However, if somebody is unaware of his mistakes then you can point out to him with not the intention of offending him or making him feel guilty but with the intention for his self-realisation and rectification. You should carefully watch your words and tone
while correcting them in a way to improve their situation with harmony, care and compassion.
Learn From Other People’s Mistakes
Again I want to quote here the spiritual leader I mentioned above ‘Sri Ravishankar’: “Wise is the one who learns from other’s mistakes. Less wise is the one who learns from his own mistakes. The fool keeps making the same mistakes again and again and never learns from them.”
I think it is quite understood with the quote only that wiser people will learn from other’s mistake so that they can refrain from committing the same mistake. This way you can save yourself from putting yourself into a state of undesired situation and misery.
Bring Your Learning Into Practice
When you realize your mistake, you need to analyze the root cause and implement a new approach or strategy. Apply all the new disciplines and experiences you learned into your daily practice so that you can avoid the same mistake further. So Act on your learnings and improvise regularly, and in this way, you will discover your better self with negligible chances of committing errors.
Conclusion
A mistake is an action that can be bound to happen by anybody. But, you can control and minimize its recurrence through continuous learning and application. So Foremost, you have to change your mindset of being ignorant and careless.
So Admission, realization, thoughtfulness, reflection are the process you should follow to learn from your mistakes and build a better character for yourself. You should take your mistakes as an opportunity for growth and setting an example rather than just lamenting over them.
Also you can read our blog on :- Decision Making Mistakes – Avoid 10 Biggest Common Mistakes