How to Start Learning from Your Money Mistakes

It doesn’t really matter what type of mistake you make in life – there is always a lesson to learn from the mistake. The trick is understanding that there is a lesson, finding the lesson, learning it, and figuring out what can be done differently in the future.

Realize You Made a Mistake

Before you can fix anything, you must name it and claim it. Accept the mistake, know that you made it, and be open about that and honest about that with yourself and others. Making mistakes doesn’t make you weak. Imagine if Thomas Edison had given up after every single mistake. No, instead, realize you made the mistake. That’s the first step to learning from it.

Identify the Cause of the Mistake

When you examine the mistake, it’s easy to step back and see the overview of it, but the best way to not make the mistake again is to examine the mistake to the point where you know the exact moment in time that your thoughts sent you to the wrong decision. If you can find that decision point that turned everything wrong, you can find the lesson you’re supposed to learn and the answer to avoiding the mistake again.

Identify the Erroneous Beliefs & Ideas that Caused the Mistake

The cause of the mistake is likely due to poor information. Information that you learned and just thought was true because it was true for you. If you can find that one spot that turned you to the wrong solution, you can then avoid doing that again.

Judge Yourself Ruthlessly

This is not about placing blame, but you want to judge every single move that only you had control over affected the results that you now say are wrong. That’s the only way to track the decision points and how things turned out wrong or even right in the case that a good and repeatable choice has been made.

Research the Topic

If you find that point where you’re shocked you were wrong, and you just can’t figure out how you could have been wrong due to your own experience, this is key to do some research and look at the stats regarding this. Your subjective life isn’t enough to use to make some decisions. You may need to always check the numbers.

Consider Outside Help

In some cases, if you’re having a hard time delving into your mistakes in a healthy way, you may want to hire a life or business coach who has training and experience with mindset development and training. This is a great way to help you learn from your mistakes.

Move Forward

Remember that the reason you want to examine mistakes is not to dwell on them or to focus on blame. Instead, the reason is to improve your responses and decision-making process for the future. When you realize going over a mistake to learn from it pays off for every project in the future, you’ll want to do it for every single situation in your life.

One thing to be careful about is when you’re formulating a new plan to avoid these same mistakes, don’t focus on the blame of the mistake. Focus on the lesson learned and use that lesson to inform you through the rest of your life.

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