Why Make Mistakes, Learn From Someone Else’s Experiences

27 Replies

Almost everyone I know has told me a story about how they lost a lot of money and regret some of the decisions they have made in the past.  I used to think like this all the time before I became consciously aware of what it does.  Regretting decisions we’ve made in the past is like driving a car while looking at the rear view mirror.  Have you ever said that you would have $x more dollars today if you changed something you did in the past?

Who you are today, is because of the decisions you’ve made in the past. Who you will be in the future, will be determined by what you do now. Obviously, if I didn’t go through the mess I went through in the last 2 years, I wouldn’t be in the great situation I am in today.

My good friend Neil Patel wrote an article about the mistakes he’s made in the past.  The mistakes he’s made have more meaning than just mistakes he’s made.  The mistakes he’s made can also be mistakes you make now or in the future which can cost you a lot of time and money.  Most people know about learning from other people’s experiences but don’t.  Getting rich overnight usually doesn’t happen (as I explained in the snowball effect), it’s all about the learning experiences.  Now imagine if you ran your business, job, or whatever it is that you’re working on, with knowledge of almost every obstacle that can get in your way.  Would you be able to reach your destination a lot faster? It’s like knowing the answers to a test before you take it!  Wouldn’t that save you money you potentially could lose?

Learn from other people’s experiences:

  • Read blogs
  • Newspaper
  • Magazines
  • Friends/family
  • Online (infinite articles on experiences)
  • Books

Look at it like this:  Let’s say, you find books of famous successful people who have done or achieved greatness.  They might sum up their entire life of experiences within a 200 or so page book.  You’ll be getting 30+ years of life experiences in your mind within a few hours.  So if you read a book about someone’s 30 years of life experiences each month for 1 year, that’s 360 years of life experience under your belt.  Do you think you’d be able to walk around some potential mistakes you might make?

Tell us some of the mistakes you made so we can learn from them 🙂

27 thoughts on “Why Make Mistakes, Learn From Someone Else’s Experiences”

  1. Pingback: Why Make Mistakes, Learn From Someone Else

  2. Derek

    I’m going to leave you with a paraphrased quote.

    A good leader learns from their mistakes. The best leader learns from other’s mistakes — and successes. – John C. Maxwell

    Reply ↓
  3. tom

    Awesome article AJ but I have a question though.

    I don’t know about others but personally I have lived in a lot of fear before and did not get to experiment much. Now that I have learned from some of the experiences, or bad habits, I know better. Such as managing money.

    My question is, I think no matter what we do, we will end up making a mistake because we want to test the limits. It is maybe more of like our ego carrying out the execution.

    Your thoughts?

    Reply ↓
    1. AJ Kumar Post author

      I completely understand what your trying to say. Learning from your mistakes helps you grow. Which is true. I also agree with you saying that we test our limits do to our ego. However, I believe that a lot of mistakes people generally make can easily be avoided, that is if they knew the answer or right way of doing something ahead of time. So yes you do grow if you literally go through the mistake yourself, but I believe that you grow without the setback (time delay, money,frustration, etc.) if you learn from someone else’s.

      Does that make sense?

      Reply ↓
      1. tom

        Yes AJ it makes perfect sense.

        Maybe I just have a different perspective based on my background. Although I do want to say that I am a lot more awakened, enlightened now compared to before.
        So now, when it comes to anything I have a stronger mindset and I am able to analyze situations better which in turn I will be able to see the bigger perspective.
        And yes, with the mindset, learn from the mistakes of others.

        I mean I could tell you about my recent story of wanting to move out and I was cringing over meeting my first months rent, let alone surviving on my own. All because I was escaping my issues at home.
        And at the same time i was fully aware of my friend who lives on her own. She has more debt and makes the same income as me. I never saw that as a huge warning sign because really, I do not want to live that way.

        i see otherwise now, I see the light.

        Reply ↓
          1. tom

            Nope, i ended up resolving the issues with my parents and things are 100 times better than I ever imagined.

            Sure there money management advice sucks so I still need to adapt better habits before i make the leap cause as my friend said, there is no turning back then.

  4. Deep Patel

    reducing risk of making mistakes is a key to long term success. First of all you have to get over the fact that you’re not going to make any mistakes. A lot of rookie entrepreneurs before they get into business think it’s going to be a cakewalk and get frustrated when they make mistakes in the process. By understanding the mistakes others have made will reduce your chances of going down the wrong path, although will not eliminate mistakes all together. Making mistakes is just part of the game, just don’t make the same ones over and over.

    Reply ↓
    1. AJ Kumar Post author

      Your right, it won’t eliminate all the risks, but you will surely reduce them significantly and that can save or even create big bucks or even new opportunities.

      Reply ↓
  5. HOBO(nickname)

    I cant say it is a mistake but yes maturity develops with age.
    Self-analysis/realization is the most importance to correct ourselves.
    I am learning day-day-day and yes I need guidance & support from my well-wishers.
    Goodluck everybody and to me too. 🙂

    Reply ↓
    1. AJ Kumar Post author

      Very true, maturity does develop with age. Although we can also excel the process of maturity by learning from others. I’ve been told my maturity level is more of a 30 year old than someone in their early 20’s. 🙂 This is due to the industry I’ve been in.

      Reply ↓
  6. varinder

    Hey AJ,
    I would say, we should make mistakes, if you really want to learn and grow in life, to experience things, but we should not repeat the same mistakes. As long as we live, so shall we learn.

    Reply ↓
    1. AJ Kumar Post author

      It is inevitable that we will make mistakes, but learning from others before you do them will save you time and money. And you are right about not repeating mistakes.

      Reply ↓
    1. AJ Kumar Post author

      Guy Kawasaki left a comment below with a book full of 130 successful people who have made some of the most common mistakes. I suggest you check it out!

      Also, stay in tune with My blog and especially people like Neil Patel or Shoemoney.

      Reply ↓
  9. Erwin Chua

    Hi AJ, All:

    Failing is a part of life. Failing forward then is making the most of life with little regret. Focus on the success, learn from mistakes and keep on getting up and going on.

    All the Best!

    Erwin

    Reply ↓
  10. Article Spinning

    You are right, AJ. Why make all the mistakes when we can learn from other people’s mistakes? That’s the value of books and tapes, especially of successful people. According to Jim Rohn, it would be good to also read books about failures so that we can learn from them, but sadly, failures don’t write books. But seriously, they would have been really valuable books, 🙂

    Reply ↓

  13. Pingback: Why Is So Hard To Learn From Other People’s Mistakes? » Article Incubator

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *