Everyone makes mistakes and an openness to continuous learning will help you make fewer of them

By, Bob Peters || August 26, 2021

The Goal should be to avoid or minimize the mistakes with severe consequences whenever you can.

In hindsight, many (not all) mistakes can be avoided by learning and being prepared.

Preparing for an exam will likely lead you to fewer incorrect answers. The adage, “Measure twice, cut once” will help you avoid wasting building material.

But life is about learning from the mistakes you make. We can agree that not brushing your teeth is a mistake when your friends tell you that you had bad breath.

We can also agree that getting a DUI is a mistake. Both are mistakes but the consequences of the mistake are very different. A pursuit of continuous learning will help you minimize yet-to-be-made mistakes. Financial Security is achieved by avoiding making severe investing mistakes.  The goal should be to avoid or minimize the mistakes with severe consequences whenever you can.

“Continuous Learning:  The more the better” 

Learning something new is a healthy way for your brain to be exercised.  Learning how to do a job will make you a good employee.  Learning something new will equip you to have a more robust conversation with friends, co-workers and strangers.  There are many ways to learn.  You can seek out experts, you can read credible publications, you can watch You Tube videos on how to do just about anything.  Sometimes we seek out knowledge because we have academic goals or we desire to be the best employee we can be in order to get greater opportunities or increased compensation, sometimes we learn something just because it seemed interesting.  Whenever you feel bored, let your Self Advocate Voice tell you to get out there and learn something new.

A couple of ideas on where to seek out knowledge

Here are a couple of publications I believe offer credible knowledge and will help you in your continuous learning journey.  From time to time I will add to this list to broaden out areas of interest. 

Foreign Affairs:  This is a quarterly publication (although in today’s digital world content is delivered real time via an online subscription.)  When I was getting my undergraduate degree in International Studies back in the early 1980s this was a “must read” publication.  This a great source of information and is soon to celebrate its 100th year in 2022.  It is published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-profit and nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to improving the understanding of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs through the free exchange of ideas.  Broadening your knowledge of the world is a good thing.

Media Bias Fact Check:  In today’s tribal and polarized world we find ourselves too often debating facts and misleading information.  I found Media Bias Fact Check to be a good way for you not to be sucked in to sources of misinformation…or at least understand the bias and degree of accuracy of media sources.  There should always be a healthy debate on a myriad of topics including government policies, corporate responsibility, etc. but we all need to take a critical eye to sources of information that do not adhere to a commitment to truth.  Take a look at the site and see where the publications and news sources your are reading come down.