How To Learn From Other People's Mistakes
- Jul 27, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 30, 2024
Written by: Jola Pypno-Crapanzano, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Learning from other people’s mistakes was something I always wanted to master. Of course, I learned plenty from my missteps and oversights as well, so I knew that there is no failure, only feedback but the high achiever in me speculated that if I only could watch other people try and fail and I apply their learnings to my life, that would be even more powerful. “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” ―Otto von Bismarck
How do we learn and benefit from the mistakes of others?
I often heard my mentors saying that they changed and transformed their lives after going through a crisis or living through a life-altering experience like bankruptcy, near-death accident, loss of a loved one, serious illness, etc. In their hero’s journey, they pointed out how they learned from these pivotal moments and the mistakes they made. They understood what they must change to transform their lives.
Learning from other people's mistakes
Learning from others’ mistakes sometimes is not so simple. I tried to imagine failing badly, hitting the proverbial wall or the very rock bottom so that I can act as if it happened and so I can avoid potential failure. I tried to demonstrate courage as if I had no choice, and I had to act quickly as if my life depended on it. But I am not going to lie; I found that even though it was possible to simulate certain scenarios, it was often hard to fool my mind that something very serious happened. My brain knew that there were other options open, and that’s why it was hard to act as if I was dangling at the end of the rope.
However, in many cases, mistakes could be avoided if we indeed learned from the mistakes of others. As in Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote:
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
In fact, according to a recent study by two researchers at Bristol University in England, we learn from our mistakes, but it turns out that we could learn more from others’ mistakes. “A mistake you do not learn from is a mistake you will repeat.” So how do we learn and benefit from the mistakes of others?
Reasons people make mistakes in the first place:
Some of the most important initial reasons people fail are lack of preparation, poor planning, poor diagnosis of the problem, weak information, improper incentive, and inadequate resources.
Secondary reasons people fail are lack of focus, lack of knowledge or experience, incorrect strategy, and poor execution.
The third group of reasons includes bad assumptions, no sense of urgency, short-term mentality, careless behavior, poor attitude, ego or greed, avoidance or denial, and conflicting goals.
Finally, the crucial reason for failure is quitting before completion.
Ideas on how to turn mistakes into valuable lessons:
Observe, take notes and learn why and how people failed. You’ll learn a lot.
Don’t try to figure everything by yourself. Consider what’s been already done before and apply it.
Try not to repeat mistakes. Keep tracking them.
Share with others what you learn from mistakes made by other people.
Don’t blame yourself and others for the mistakes made. Move on.
Apply lessons learned from mistakes made in one area to another.
Be patient trying to figure out how to avoid the most common mistakes in the future.
Visualize yourself in the situation and make better choices.
Do some research on how others avoid making mistakes.
And finally, have a mentality that there is no failure, only feedback. Celebrate that!
Everyone makes mistakes at some point in life, but let’s remember that when we do make a mistake, we just might be helping someone else avoid making the same mistake, and they might learn from our failure!
So, I conclude with the quote by Anurag Prakash Ray:
“Everyone evolves by making mistakes and actually learning from them.”
Jola Pypno-Crapanzano, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jola Pypno-Crapanzano is a Certified High-Performance Coach™️, NLP and TLT®️ Practitioner, founder and CEO of Coaching Journey with Jola, two times International Bestselling Author of “One” - Your wellness guide to body, mind, and soul and “Stay home”- When you can’t go outside, what happens inside?
She carries a Master's Degree in Scientific-Technical Information from Silesian University in Poland. She has over 30 years of combined experience working with thousands of unique individuals and groups of people serving them in many different capacities. First, as a tour guide traveling all over the world (almost 70 countries visited so far) and translating into 4 languages, then working in the entertainment and hospitality industry as part of operational management in a large publicly traded company in NYC. Finally, coaching people initially as fitness, wellness, and lifestyle coach and most recently more holistically as Certified High-Performance Coach™️, NLP, and Time Line Therapy®️ Practitioner. She also helps her clients in Positive Intelligence, specializing in strengthening their Mental Fitness, and supports them through various strategic interventions. Her mission is to help one million people live their lives to the fullest, reach heightened and sustained levels of clarity, energy, courage, productivity, and influence and show them that it is possible to live lives of their dreams, on their terms, without regrets, be fully engaged, joyful and confident and build an incredible lasting legacy.
