We must not fool ourselves, nobody wants to make mistakes, but the way we react can make all the difference. There are big mistakes, errors that are difficult to erase and that will leave an indelible mark on us. However, that does not mean that they should become an obstacle in our path. There are wounds that remain open and hurt us, others heal properly and serve to remind us of the mistakes we should not make again. In fact, Confucius said that “the man who has made a mistake and does not correct it commits another bigger mistake ”.
Your brain: Does it turn on or off when you make mistakes?
In this regard, two particularly interesting studies looked into our brains to understand what happens when we make a mistake. One of the experiments involved young students who had to solve different tasks on a computer, while the other involved doctors who had to make decisions about a prescription for a patient.
In both cases, participants were given immediate feedback after they had made the decision, telling them whether it was right or wrong. They were then given the opportunity to try again, to show that they had learned.
While all this was going on, their brains were being scanned. It was found that our brains respond in two different ways when we make a mistake:
1. Activation. In this case, the brain understands the error as something negative and faces it as if it were a problem that needs to be solved. The brain then increases the level of attention by activating different resources, with the aim of not making a mistake in the next decision and not making the same mistake. When this response is appreciated, people tend to learn and improve their performance.
2. Shutting down. In this case, the brain reacts to the negative feedback by “shutting down.” In practice, it is as if a defense mechanism is activated: the brain decides not to think about the error, so that the person does not experience negative emotions or doubt their abilities. The problem is that it is more difficult for these people to learn from their mistakes and they tend to make the same mistakes again.
However, these researchers continued to delve deeper into the psychological mechanisms underlying how we process errors and discovered some common features of brains that were turned on or off:
– Concept of intelligence: People who believe that intelligence is malleable, who believe that mastery comes with practice, are more likely to pay attention to mistakes. On the contrary, those who believe that intelligence is something fixed, that you either have it or you don’t have it, an innate ability, were less likely to learn from mistakes.
– Experience level: People with more experience were less likely to pay attention and learn from mistakes. They tended to rely on their judgment and ignore feedback. If the simulation had been real, it would have had dire consequences for the patients. However, those with less experience were more open and changed their opinions.
3 essential lessons for dealing with mistakes and learning from them
These experiments are particularly enlightening because they show us how our mind works when we are faced with a mistake we have made ourselves. Therefore, if you want to learn from your mistakes, move on and become a more resilient and mature person, you need to:
1. Don’t panic , because this way you will only be making the job easier for the limbic system, making it disconnect the rational brain so that you cannot think about the mistake you have made. When you panic, your brain thinks that it must protect you and, therefore, it “turns off.” However, this way you will not be able to learn from the mistake. In fact, you will not even be able to process the mistake and it will remain as a latent trace in your brain, causing damage and generating insecurity from the shadows.
2. They assume that life is a learning process. People who believe they have already learned everything, who consider themselves to be specialists in a certain subject, close themselves off to new learning and, therefore, become stagnant. When these people make a mistake, such a great cognitive dissonance is produced that it is difficult for them to manage it. The idea that they can make mistakes does not correspond to the image they have of themselves and, therefore, they prefer to ignore the mistake. However, everything changes when we assume that we never finish learning and that sometimes, the most valuable lessons come from the most unexpected sources.
3. Think of mistakes as opportunities for growth. When we associate mistakes with failure, they generate discomfort and activate a series of negative thoughts that make us doubt our abilities. Obviously, self-reproach and feelings of guilt are not exactly a panacea, so we prefer to avoid them. That is why, on many occasions, we overlook mistakes, in order to preserve the image we have of ourselves and not punish ourselves. However, everything changes if we begin to think of mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow. When mistakes do not affect our self-esteem, we can remain alert to them and learn the lesson, without causing an emotional tsunami inside us.
Remember that every time you make a mistake, you may discover a truth you didn’t know. The only big mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.
References:
Moser, J.S. et. Al. (2011) Mind your errors: Evidence for a neural mechanism linking growth mindset to adaptive post-error adjustments. Psychological Science ; 22(12):1484-1489.
Downar, J. et. Al. (2011) Neural correlates of effective learning in experienced medical decision-makers. PLOS ONE ; 6 (11).
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