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Think and Grow Rich test: Do you analyze mistakes and try to learn from them?

November 11, 2009 by JD
Filed under: Books, Self-Improvement, Success and Failure

My answers to the Think and Grow Rich Self-Assessment Test

Recently, I was reminded of the self-assessment test in Napoleon Hill’s best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich.

There are fifty-four questions in that test, and I’m going to be giving my answers and thoughts on one or two of them as close to daily as I can manage. I may miss a day here or there, but I’m going to follow through until I reach the end of the test.

I’ve started the series of posts with:

Think and Grow Rich self-assessment test

Question Number 30. Do you analyze mistakes and try to learn from them?

Yes, I do.

As some have pointed out, I tend more towards over analyzing than under analyzing a situation.

I don’t like repeating mistakes and I try hard to learn from my own mistakes as well as those I see others making.

Perhaps it would not be a real mistake for them, but it would be for me.

As I get older, I feel more strongly about being true to myself and acting with as much character as I can muster.

Sometimes it places some limits on what I’ll do that others feel are too self-limiting, but that’s okay. When I look in the mirror, I want to see someone who is comfortable with himself and true to his word.

Some mistakes I’ve made in the past include…

…too much credit card debt. I solved that one and have no debt, now. I still use a couple of debit cards, but no credit cards.

…promoting something for the money, even if I didn’t believe in it. For example, for a year or so, I promoted a variety of credit cards on my sites. They offered good commissions, but it never felt right. Eventually, I stopped doing it. The money I lost was not worth the self-respect it was costing me. Now, I feel better.

…buying someone else’s content and putting my name on it. When I first got started with affiliate marketing, I subscribed to a service and received a year’s worth of mailing list articles. They were well-written and informative, but I knew what I was doing was wrong, even though I had a license to use them. I was misrepresenting something as my work, and it wasn’t. That is clearly wrong, even though many people would disagree with me. So, I stopped doing it. Now, I write all my own content and feel good about putting my name on it. It’s a lot more work, but I think it’s more effective and certainly more honest.

…fighting with my brother. Arguing with a sibling is a part of growing up, but it can be carried to extremes. I remember the exact moment when I realized that my brother and I were too grown up and too strong to fight any more. It was about a second after I dodged a four-speed transmission that the threw across the room at me. We stopped fighting that day, but not the arguing. For years, we had little to say to each other. Now, decades later, he’s one of my best friends.

I’m sure I’ve made lots of other mistakes, but, when I realize it, I try to learn from it, correct it, and not repeat it.

What about you?

Do you analyze mistakes and try to learn from them?

All the best,

Tags: Napoleon Hill, self-assessment, test, Think and Grow Rich

Comments

4 Comments on Think and Grow Rich test: Do you analyze mistakes and try to learn from them?

Lora on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 1:27 pm

Yep, I am the same way. And I much prefer to learn from the mistakes of others rather than my own though, gotta tell ya!

As far as conscience is concerned, Jiminy Cricket doesn’t stray too far from me.

So let the “Nice guys finish last” and “The wicked prosper”. But let’s face it, I look bad enough in the mirror without the reflection of a bad character staring back at me!

JD on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 2:03 pm

Good afternoon, Lora.

Welcome to our discussions and thanks for your comment.

Sometimes I spend too much time learning from my own mistakes to take advantage of learning from the mistakes of others.

Now, I’m wise enough not to comment on how ANYBODY else looks, but I can agree that all of us look better when our reflection clearly shows a good character.

(grin)

All the best,

Mitch on Wed, 11th Nov 2009 9:23 pm

Actually, I analyze mistakes, but when I do, I tend to wallow in them more than use them to learn things. Eventually I’ll learn something from them, but I hate the concept that I actually make mistakes, although I know that’s what makes me human.
.-= Mitch´s last blog ..A Political Health Care Rant =-.

JD on Mon, 16th Nov 2009 6:27 am

Good morning, Mitch.

I know you didn’t mean it to be funny, but I laughed out loud (really) when I read that you “hate the concept that I actually make mistakes.”

Yep, that’s what makes you and all the rest of us human.

I used to hate making mistakes.

When I was in school, I felt that any grade on a test below 100 was a failure. I couldn’t stand to get a 98 or 95, and to get a score in the 80s was devastating.

Now, I look back on that and realize that it was a really warped viewpoint.

I remember a time that I wouldn’t try something new unless I was almost positive that I could do it well.

Over time, I got over that mindset.

These days, I make so many mistakes that I couldn’t even count them, but I believe that’s a part of growth.

When I make a mistake, or watch someone else make one, I do my best to learn from it and not repeat it.

Now and then, I’ll wallow in a mistake for awhile, but I try really hard not to do much of that.

All the best,

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