Experiential Learning or How We Can Learn From Our Mistakes

There are different types of learning and experiential learning is one of them.

From the word you can already guess that it has to do with learning from experience or rather, learning from your mistakes.

Mistakes occur from time to time.

We do not plan to make mistakes but they seem to be part of the learning process.

People’s reactions to their mistakes differ depending on their temperament as well as the enormity of their mistakes.

For instance, I usually laugh when I’m caught singing the wrong key in the choir. A music instructor once got upset about this and asked why I laughed for singing the wrong key. I laughed because that was my way of dealing with the error and telling myself: ‘Hey don’t you think you can do better than that? You better pull yourself together and get this right.’

So, it is more like me laughing at myself because I didn’t think I was going to make a mistake and I did. (Laughing at my mistakes is another way I treat the mistake as ‘nothing’).

Now it doesn’t bother the music instructor anymore because she understands that is how I deal with the mistake. Also, I do not repeat the mistake. In other words, laughing did not mean I took it for granted. Rather, I learned from the mistake and moved on from there.

All Mistakes Are Not Equal

There are various degrees of mistakes. Some are minor and some may be life-threatening. But no matter how grievous it was, what matters is how we react to the mistakes and what we decide to do about it.

I know the example I gave is kind of trivial because no one is hurt but I have made some major mistakes too. It can happen to anyone. That is life. I have looked back at some decisions I took even last year and I’m like I can’t believe I did that. But What do I do since it’s already done?

The worst reaction is to overthink it, feeling depressed about what happened and telling yourself that one failure means you can never get it right. That is wrong because that mistake does not define you. What is done is indeed done but you are not being fair to yourself if you continue to live in the past and wallow in self-pity.

How To Learn From Our Mistakes and Why It Is Important

Let it go. You miscalculated or made the wrong choice, it is done. You can go back to the drawing board to see where you got it wrong in the first place. Letting it go means that you do not repeat the mistake. That is when the learning starts.

Tell yourself the truth. Some people prefer to shift the blame when they make a mistake. They look for a ‘fall guy’ or a scapegoat so to speak. They don’t want to admit it was their fault. Such people never learn from their mistakes. Taking responsibility for your actions or inactions is a sign of maturity and leadership too. You are learning and growing.

Know what you want and focus on the details. Some know what they want but they are only focused on the outcome. They tell you the end justifies the means but that just sounds creepy. Paying attention to the details is very crucial. It will help you to cross your ‘t’s and dot your ‘i’s so that you don’t repeat mistakes. Then your result will be achieved successfully.

Don’t be too shy or too proud to ask for help. If you know someone who has the right information, ask for their help. Information is potential power. Even when you already know what you are doing, you can always cross-check with their information just to make sure you are on the right track.

Accept corrections. Be humble enough to accept corrections from others. No one knows it all. I used to have a co-worker who did not take corrections at all. At a point, nobody likes to correct her because it is just pointless. She was very proud of her ignorance and it always landed her in trouble with the manager. Ignorance they say, is a disease. When you listen to corrections, you may be saved from big mistakes that would have cost you more.

Put the lessons to work. Going back to my example at the beginning. If the music instructor called me out for singing the wrong key and I kept on singing the same wrong key, what does it say about me? It simply shows that I am not ready to learn. Humans are creatures of habit and you can’t keep doing the same thing while expecting a different result.

Therefore, there has to be an indication that you have learned one or two lessons from your past mistakes. The change may be hard but you can take it as the sacrifice or the effort you need to make for improvement and growth.

This is what differentiates us from the animals. Learning from our mistakes means that we do not repeat them, at least not intentionally.

In this new year, do not be stuck in some mistakes of last year. It’s time to move on, take the lessons from the mistakes and achieve better for yourself.

Thank you for reading.