How Learning From Failure makes you more Decisive in life

During a talk with Harvard Business Review, Professor Amy Edmondson shared some valuable insights on “intelligent failure.” She explained how increasing failures, especially those from the experiment, led to significant learning and innovation. For instance, early attempts at open heart surgery paved the way for today’s life-saving procedures although it wasn’t a successful Idea initially.

While not all of us are in that field, we all face failures. But did you know there’s actually a direct link between failures and decision-making? Yep. But, how is that related to better decision-making? 

Can perceiving failures differently make you a better decision-maker? Let’s dive deeper and understand!

Use Learning From Failure as a Tool

Let’s face it: Failure is never fun. But what if you could use it as one of the most valuable tools in your learning experience? For sure, that sounds cliche, but if you carefully think about it, this perspective has the power to change a lot of things for good in your life. 

When things don’t go as we plan, one thing that I have learned from my experience is to use it as an opportunity to gain more insights you might have not discovered otherwise. Think about it this way: when you fail at something, you don’t step ahead. When that happens, you can pause and reflect on what’s going on inside you. 

When we’re always winning, we might miss out on the critical lessons that come with losing. This mindset shift from fear to acceptance can make you better at seeing failure as a learning tool and transform how you approach challenges for greater success! 

Reframe Failure

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) often uses a technique for cognitive restructuring which can help to challenge and modify negative thoughts. It is quite similar to a reframing failure and has also been proven to reduce anxiety by changing how we perceive and react to failures. 

So, how to implement this? Start small. Whenever you get a rough patch, take a moment to pause and think about what exactly went wrong and why. This self-reflection is super important for learning from failure as it makes you think from a completely different perspective. 

Once you have the realization, try to find at least one positive lesson from the experience. For example, if you couldn’t crack an interview, think about what might have gone wrong and what can be improved for the next time. 

You can also try thought records, a common tool used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy where you jot down your thoughts and feelings about the setback. Then, you start working on turning those thoughts into more positive ones. This method is extremely helpful in deep self-reflection on what happened and how you can grow from that situation. 

Overcome Setbacks and Build Resilience

We all face failures in our lives but what sets us apart is how we deal with them. It means recognizing challenges, learning from them, and moving forward with a new sense of purpose. Resilience is all about our ability to bounce back from difficult situations and adapt to the new ones. Serena Williams is a fantastic example of how overcoming setbacks and building resilience can do wonders in one’s life. 

Throughout her incredible tennis career, Serena faced multiple challenges including severe injuries and personal struggles. In fact, in 2011, she suffered from a pulmonary embolism, which could have probably ended her career. It did take a toll on her but instead of giving up, she worked tirelessly to heal and regain her strength to return to the top of her game. 

In her interviews, Serena has spoken openly about her journey on the importance of staying positive and persistent even when things seem impossible. She said, “I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.” 

With this constant determination and growth mindset, Serena overcame everything she was going through and eventually became one of the greatest tennis players of all time! Thus, she proved that with a growth mindset, we will perceive failure as an opportunity of learning and evolving.

Learn from Setbacks to Improve Decision-Making

A 2011 study by Lisa Bortolotti, concluded that people who regularly self-reflect are better at setting goals and making better decisions in life. This practice often leads to better outcomes, whether it is your personal or professional life. However, to better understand how this works, it’s important to understand the interconnection between self-reflection, personal development, and improving decision-making. 

Self-reflection, Personal Development, and Improved Decision-Making

As much as we know about self-reflection, it is when you take a step back to think about your actions, decisions, and experiences. It is a way to understand your strengths, and areas of improvement to be more aware of what works and what doesn’t. 

Personal development, on the other hand, is about using this awareness to change habits that are not serving you well. So basically, what I am trying to say is, that when you reflect on your experiences, you identify your growth areas which will eventually fuel your personal development! 

As you develop a personality with self-reflection, your decision-making skills will naturally improve since you are more aware of yourself. With the right amount of consistency and effort, understanding past choices and their consequences can help to make even better decisions in the future. 

Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

Gibbs’s reflective cycle is a handy tool to learn from your experiences. It mainly guides you through 6 stages:

  • Description
  • Feelings
  • Evaluation
  • Analysis
  • Conclusion
  • Action Plan 

So basically, whenever an event happens, this method lets you break down that event step by step to understand what happened and how exactly it made you feel. For example, after a group project, you could start describing what happened and who was involved in the process. Reflect on your feelings during the project and understand the positive as well as negative aspects of it. 

Try to analyze why things turned out the way they did, and conclude the lessons you learned to create an action plan for how you will handle it if something similar happens in the future. Reflecting in such a structured way will definitely boost your personal growth and improve your decision-making skills to a great extent! This is how learning from failure becomes essential to growth and development.

Final Words

Learning from failures can actually make you more decisive in life to make better decisions. Remember, setbacks are just a part of the process and don’t reflect your value as a person. So the next time you face a challenge, don’t shy away. Embrace it and learn from it to keep pushing forward and your personal growth will thank you!

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