Become a learner so that you avoid repeated mistakes
It is impossible to always make good decisions.
Everyone makes mistakes — some big, some small.
Making a bad decision does not make you a bad person.
What is important is that you learn from your mistakes, and avoid repeating them. Trust me. You will get tired of making the same mistakes over and over.
One of the reasons I enjoy traveling so much is that you get to see the world, and you learn a lot about life. Unfortunately, some of it is due to mistakes I make, bad decision, or short-sighted judgments.
A simple example
For example, it was a mistake not to use the free wi-fi that was available at the resort on our trip to Cancun last year. We should have known better.
As a result, we wracked up hundreds of dollars in extra roaming charges — a costly mistake. A waste of money when we knew better.
Another example — it was a bad decision to return a rental car in Germany without the gas tank full. I knew better. The customer service person was not thrilled, and it cost me a lot of grief and money.
Lastly, I was short-sighted when I received a parking ticket in Rothenburg and “forgot” to pay it. The rental car company added a hefty fee for dealing with the ticket when they billed my credit card. Stupid mistake on my part.
We can learn from our mistakes
These mistakes were all learning experiences.
I will make sure these mistakes do not happen again.
Become a learner — avoid making the same mistakes over an over.
Pay particular attention to your mistakes that result in loss, waste, death or destruction. These are costly mistakes you may not be able to afford.
You want to avoid mistakes that create broken relationships with family and friends, results in losing large amounts of money, or wasting your time.
Instead, learn lessons from your mistakes and apply those in future situations. Smart people learn — fools don’t…and none of us want to be a fool.
“Wisdom comes from life experience; life experience is the result of repeatedly taking corrective action while courageously learning from mistakes.” ― Ken Poirot
Related
I write a blog for my sons called Doug Keating Letter to Sons. I am sharing content from my blog here. I hope you enjoyed it. All feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading it.
Originally published at www.lettertosons.com on April 30, 2017.
