Invest in learning from successes, focus less on mistakes

Have you ever asked yourself how much, exactly, you have learned from a failure? And did you ever compare the amount of knowledge gained from a failure with the amount of expertise gained from a success? I believe lessons learned from mistakes are not as helpful to us as the knowledge developed from success.

I first realized this when I was learning to ride a bicycle. While many people pointed out my mistakes, they could not help me learn how to ride. I fell off the bicycle repeatedly and I could not understand why. Until one short, two meter ride – I started by myself and stopped without falling over. I suddenly had the feeling of how it was supposed to be done. I stopped, recalled every move and how it felt, and I decided to focus on repeating those moves. In 15 minutes I was riding the bicycle entirely on my own. Throughout my life I have often recalled that experience to remind myself to keep looking for a sign, or the feeling, that I am moving down the right path. Once that moment of realization comes, I analyze it, try to repeat the motions, and attempt improvement on every step going forward.

Nevertheless, my experience of learning how to ride a bicycle is not the reason for this post. Rather, the reason is two short paragraphs found on page 16 of the book Rework by Jason Fried and David Hansson. Apparently, the authors came to the same position I did. On that page the authors claim the only lesson learned from failure is what not to do again. However, even a slight success provides real knowledge of what works, the necessary steps to take to repeat the success and how those steps might be improved upon.

I agree with the authors that the knowledge we gain from success is valuable ammunition we can use to succeed in the future, in all of life’s endeavors. However, human nature allows us to easily forget the steps taken on the road to success, while mistakes loom large in our minds’. We need to retrain our memory to work differently. Every time success is achieved, pause for a moment and recall every step taken on the way to accomplishment. Take the time to document the steps – or at least memorize them – for use in the future. Any action that worked well should be re-applied as, more than likely, those actions will work just as well the next time. Once focused on repeating the steps that worked well in the past, you will be on the road to long term success. As for mistakes, spend minimal time and stress analyzing them, do not repeat them, and move on.

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