101: Learning from Mistakes ~ Part 1
- temporary by products of creativity.
- part of experiential education.
- indispensable prerequisite of success from which we learn valuable lessons
“Whatever humans have learned had to be learned as a consequence only of trial and error experience. Humans have learned primarily through mistakes”. [poet and cosmologist, Buckminster Fuller] Lessons we Learn
- Treat the “failed” experience as an opportunity to learn. What did you learn from the experience that will help you in the future? How can you use the experience to improve yourself or your situation?
Ask yourself these questions:
- What was the mistake?
- Why did it happen?
- How could it have been prevented?
- How can I do better next time?
To be able to utilize our experiences in a positive manner requires a willingness to learn from successes and mistakes. Michael Jordan (sports superstar) failed to make the first team of his school’s basketball team and Albert Einstein (scientist) was not considered too bright a student in school. History is filled with the lives of great people who became famous for their accomplishments, yet tasted bitter disappointments, suffered years of trials and tribulations, experienced numerous setbacks, endured ridicule and frustration; but they all learnt from their experiences. “Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. Do remember however, that experience teaches only the teachable”. [Novelist, Aldous Huxley]
- If we learn from our experiences then there could be a positive dimension even to setbacks. “Learning from mistakes is how we grow”. [Motivational Specialist, Brian Tracey] If, however, we fail to learn from experience, we set ourselves on the path to failure. The question is: Are we prepared to learn or are we preparing to fail? Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: لا يلدغ المؤمن من جحر واحد مرتين A Believer is never bit/hurt from the same hole/place twice. [This prophetic tradition intimates that Believers ought not to make the same mistake twice, and need to learn from their experiences.]
- Mistakes/ failing makes us confront our limitations. It makes us face our shortcomings and could motivate us to use our strengths to overcome our weaknesses and turn threats/challenges to opportunities. This is meant to be humbling, not humiliating.
- If we do something that works then work on improving on it, if something does not work then do not repeat that. Change the methodology / correct the course of action. It has been said that there are two ways of meeting your challenges; you alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them. It is only when we strive for excellence (not perfection) that we will to do simple things expertly and acquire the skill to do difficult things easily. Be ready for change, for a bend in the road does not mean the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.
- Positive attitude is absolutely essential in overcoming setbacks and “failures”. “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us”. [inventor, Alexander Graham Bell] Never let a single defeat be considered a final defeat. When Thomas Edison was told that he failed 1999 times before succeeding to make the light-bulb, he replied, “I never failed once. It was a 2000-step process. I also now know 1999 ways not to make a light-bulb.” Failure is more often an attitude rather than an outcome. If you do not have confidence you will always find an excuse and excuses rarely lead to success. You must do what needs to be done. There is an African inspiration that goes; Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed…every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or gazelle…when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.
- Failing can develop strength of character. “Difficulties are meant to rouse not discourage. The human spirit is meant to grow strong by conflict (and challenge)”. [Intellectual Unitarian Leader, William Ellery Channing] We learn that not everything that is attempted could be mastered, but also realize that nothing can be mastered unless attempted.
This is perhaps why the concept of صبر sabr/patient perseverance plays such a significant role in Islamic daily life that promises الصابرين و بشر glad tidings to those who patiently persevere [Qur’an 2:155 ].