We learn from our experiences—and the experiences of others.
Successfully recognizing why something happened the way it did, and understanding how it can better inform our thoughts, feelings, plans, and behaviors, moving forward, is what learning-from-experience is all about. So, it stands to reason that the more we can learn from our hindsight, the more capably—and compellingly—we can lead others into the future.
But what is hindsight, really? And how do we optimize its use?
Let us take a closer look.
Learning from the Mistakes We Have Made
The most common, and often most powerful form of hindsight comes from what we learn from the mistakes we make. When we make a mistake—and recognize it as such—we now have irrefutable evidence of how NOT to do something the next time.
Compare the certainty of that to when we happen to get something right the first time. Ego and self-confidence aside, were we successful because we were good? Or were we just lucky? Either way, all we really know is that what we did the last time might work again, if the exact same circumstances apply. But how likely is that, really, given how fast things change.
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