The following article comes from an awesome website "Unleash Your Success" . . . an excellent resource for self-help improvement (link follows article).
It is my philosophy that mistakes are not failures, they are life lessons to learn from . . . unless the lesson is not learned time after time.
After not learning my lesson time and time again, I asked myself the question "how can I learn from my mistakes"? When I could not come up with the answer, I did a search on my question and found the website and this awesome article . . .
Do you sometimes get annoyed with yourself when you find that you do the same mistakes (small or big ones) over and over again?
These can be simple and easy things such as helping out an acquaintance who seems always taking advantage of you? Or it can be something like giving money to a not so reliable friend.
And afterwards, you find yourself saying: “Why did I make the mistake again? I KNOW he/she would do this! He/she is doing this every time!” And you start getting mad on yourself.
Ever happened to you?
Well, you are not alone! Many people experience that in specific occasions the heart beats the mind.
So the important question here is: How can you learn from your mistakes?
Here are some quick and easy tips:
Firstly ask yourself WHY it happened again. Almost always emerges a certain pattern like: “It is difficult for me to say ‘no’ to friends.”
Secondly: once you found out the reason, do not stay there but try to find out why it is difficult for you to say no to friends. Don’t stay with the symptoms but dig a little deeper to shed a little light on the true cause.
One might be that you don’t want to lose your friend. Another could be attached to a certain believe system: “I’m not a good person when I’m not helping out others.”
Thirdly: analyse those true causes and the needs that hide behind them. Put them to the test: Do those needs prevent you from making the right decisions? Do they lead you straight to the same mistakes, over and over again?
Finally, make a decision with a strong statement: No money for this friend anymore! Or something like that. Write the statement on a piece of paper and put it where you can see it every time you pass by (mirror, fridge, you name it). This will remind you every time of your decision.
And then – the most important thing EVER: put it into action!
ACTION STEPS:
1) Ask yourself: Why did I make the same mistake?
2) Once you found the reason, dig out the true cause that hides behind it.
3) Analyse the true cause: Does this lead you to the same mistake?
4) Make a decision with a strong statement NOT to do it again.
5) Write the statement down and put it where you see it.
6) TAKE ACTION.
