essay the biggest mistake in my life

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The Biggest Mistake I Made In My Life

T here are many mistakes I have made in my life .  I hope that as I have learned from them, the  lessons  I’ve shared so far will help you avoid the pain and regret that follows from them.

Today I want to share the biggest mistake I made with you.

The Importance Of Situational Understanding

Before I tell you, let me share with you how I got here.  Without understanding this, you may read it and not fully absorb how important it is.

See, that’s the thing about some of the most profound lessons in our lives: it takes more than just being told a lesson, to really understand the lesson.

We have to learn them at just the right time, in just the right context, or it doesn’t actually sink in and make any difference.

Your mentors may tell you this lesson in passing, but without a proper frame of mind to accept it, you won’t realize just how powerful it is and brush it off.

The SECOND Biggest Mistake…

And in fact, that may be the second biggest mistake I have ever made in my life:

Ignoring good advice, believing it didn’t apply to me, because I was not yet ready to receive it – and wasting years of my life until I finally came around and understood how valuable that information was.

How I Realized My Mistake

We all have subconscious assumptions we make every day. We don’t even realize we have them until we are suddenly challenged on something that is “obviously” true to us, or that we take for granted every day.

One of those “obvious” assumptions I used to make was, “it’s ok I can get a second chance.” Now I know logically that’s not true, but emotionally that’s often how I treated chances in my life.

However, the truth is, I learned  there are opportunities where we never, ever get a second chance.

What we may get, if we are lucky, is a new opportunity to start over.

Or a new opportunity to try to make amends.

Or something that in our own minds allows us to “make up” for a lost opportunity.

But that friend you hurt, the birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions we miss – there is really no going back.

And that is why….

The Biggest Mistake I Made In My Life Is This

I didn’t truly value my time or the opportunities it afforded me: I pretended I would get another chance, and so instead spent time on things that didn’t matter in the long run and that I did not have to do – missing out on the single chance I had.

Now yes – that sounds vague, but let me give you some more details of why it matters, concrete examples and action steps.

Because understanding time famine , and how valuable each day is is what led me to this realization.

Why Fixing This Mistake Cannot Wait

There are a two subconscious issues in particular that drive this mistake.  And the problem is, these subconscious issues make you feel like this mistake isn’t urgent – even though in reality, it is an emergency .

Issue 1:  Pretending Letting One Thing Go Doesn’t Matter

When my days were passing me by, I never thought to myself “well, I’m letting my life slip away.”

Because in that moment, it feels like “It’s just one day” or “It’s just this one time” and “I can always see my friends tomorrow.”

You feel like there will always be another day, there will always be another chance.

But think about this:  depending on the study, up to 95% of people’s actions are habitual.  That is, we do the same thing over and over again.  Every time, and every day, we take an action that’s not truly valuing our time and making the most of it, that’s another step  towards building that habit.

And once you start letting one day or week go by without seeing your friends, or calling your family – it’s easy to let another and then another.  And then your new life, your new habit – is one where that experience no longer happens.

Why this matters : If we don’t treat this as an emergency today, we will build habits that reinforce not valuing our time – and it will be even harder to break those habits later.

Issue 2:  Not Realizing Our Mortality

While related to the first, this is a little more subtle.

And what changed it for me was when friends and family started passing away.

I remember one, she was full of life and still in college.  I was busy with classes as well.  We messaged each other, planning to get together but kept putting it off – even though we were literally at the same university.

However almost two years went by without us getting together once when she suddenly passed away.

Now what I want to emphasize is:  I didn’t have just one chance to see her. There were hundreds of days, and dozens of times we had kept in touch. But not once did we follow through on those plans because we were too busy.

For months, that experience really shook me.  I’ve forgiven myself and allowed myself to move on, but it’s a mistake that I made that cannot be undone. There is no second chance.

Why this matters : If you don’t appreciate your own mortality, you feel no urgency to change. There is “tomorrow” to change – and tomorrow turns into never.

 What Can You Do About It?

There are a few action steps you can take right now:

• Start calculating “costs” and “benefits” in terms of time . Often we look at something and weigh the monetary, currency costs because those are easy – the price of the item is right there. But try to get in the habit of thinking of time as your most important currency.  Is “express shipping” really too expensive at $20 (even if it looks like a total rip-off) if the benefit is 3 more days of using a product that will save you 2 hours a day?
• Try to be more aware of falling into habits and default behavior .  I talk about this at length in my article about taking control of your life , the short version is this: when you’re doing something, really ask yourself – is this what I should be doing? Or do I just do this because I’ve always done it? Example: Do I always walk in the house, sit down and turn on the TV? Or do I always check my phone for social updates as soon as I wake up, and before I go to sleep? 
• Start the day by paying yourself first . As the day goes on it gets more hectic, and you may have more external things to respond to.  If you can start the day fresh by focusing on yourself and your long term goals, even in just a small way for a few minutes, it will help you build that awareness of your time so you can value it throughout the day.

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What have you learned from your biggest mistakes – Sample answers & more

Everyone makes mistakes . You can read the biographies of billionaires , or of people successful in endeavors that are hard to measure with money (art, spirituality), and you will see that even the best of the best made some big mistakes in their life. And they often paid the price. But they leaned from their mistakes. Failures haven’t broken their spirits . On the contrary, they made them stronger. Perhaps this is what makes the difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful one, or at least it seems so… Anyway, interviewing for a job , or even for a place at a college, you will often face questions about the BIG mistakes of your life , and what you have learned from them. Let’s learn how to deal with this one!

Several things matter for your interviewers. First one, that you can actually admit making mistakes, without blaming someone else for them . Second, that however hard or painful your failure was, it didn’t break you down . And third, that while you have an ability to forget the setback and move on , you do not simply forget it. On the contrary, you try to analyze your mistakes, and learn from them , making sure that you’ll do things better next time around. That’s the impression you want to make on the hiring managers, or on anyone else who asks you about your biggest mistakes.

Let’s have a look at 7 sample answers to the questions. Bear in mind that in this case, you talk about the lessons you learned, and not about the mistakes. At least not in detail. If you want you can also check sample answers to a question “ What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in your career? “. But let’s move to the answers now. I hope at least one of them will resonate with you.

7 sample answers to “What have you learned from your biggest mistakes?” interview question

• I have learned from my biggest mistakes that you should not bet everything on one card . Sure, it is great to love your trade and devote everything to one profession. But things change, what is super secure today can be highly insecure in 5 years. And if you do not have any other qualifications, it can easily happen that you change $100K/year job for $30K/year job . But I’ve learned my lesson, and I do not blame fate or God or anyone else for my present financial struggles. I have the job I have now. And I keep working on mu education and skills , to be able to get something better, and to make myself more flexible on the job market.
• People change . That’s what I learned from my biggest mistakes. They both relate to relationships. I have divorced two times , which isn’t a great resume for someone in their early forties. But here we go. I also learned from my mistakes that one should not do things they aren’t mature for yet. But I want to assure you that I am not bitter because of my failed marriages. First of all, there’s more to life than marriage. For example you can have a job you like and see a meaningful purpose in . That’s also important, and can bring a lot of happiness and joy to your life.
• I am still very young, only 21 , and it is hard to say whether I made some really big mistakes in my life. Sure, I haven’t always decided as I should have. And I said some things I regreted later. But it is also true that when you’re still at school parents decide many things for you… From the smaller mistakes I’ve made, however, I learned that nothing is permanent , and every day is a chance to try from scratch, to start something new. Maybe it is just a naivety of youth, but I feel that one should not dwell too much on their mistakes. We should live in the present, not in the past .
• The  most important lesson I’ve learned from my biggest mistakes is that they belong to life . The only people who never make big mistakes are people who never really leave their comfort zone to try something extraordinary. I often aimed for perfection, and ventured into the unknown . Had some successes, but also big setbacks. Nevertheless, I see it all as a part of a journey, because I know that mistakes and failures belong to each exciting journey.
• My biggest mistakes are management mistakes . I would say that I became a better manager because of them. Of course, I could have done things right the first time around. But then I also believe that regardless of how many books on management you read, and how many experienced people you talk to, certain things you can only learn from your own mistakes . Now I already know that empowering people works only if you have right people in the team, and that individual approach to each person or project you manage is the key . And I sincerely hope to benefit from these lessons in my new job with you.
• My biggest mistakes were a lesson in humility for me really. Had a great GPA, always considered myself intelligent, and sort of thought that the world belonged to me. But I made many mistakes as an analyst, and I also lost a good job because of one of them. But maybe from a long time perspective it is the best thing that could have happened to me . Because now I am humble and know that I can never stop learning, and never become complacent about my abilities.
• I’ve learned that greed and desire are bad masters . We didn’t have enough savings to go for a big mortgage, and yet we went for it. Because we wanted a good house for our children and also prestige. Other people had big houses, so why wouldn’t we get one too? Of course, problems happened, my wife lost the job, and suddenly we weren’t able to pay the bills . Lost the house, experienced a lot of stress, family problems. It was just horrible, and only because we were greedy and not happy with what we had. I know that I am not going to make a similar mistake ever again. And though it was a painful experience, I am grateful for it . It taught me an important lesson that I will never forget.

* Special Tip : This isn’t the only difficult question you will face while interviewing for any decent job. You will face questions about prioritization, dealing with pressure, dealing with ambiguity , and other tricky scenarios that happen in the workplace. If you want to make sure that you stand out with your answers and outclass your competitors, have a look at our Interview Success Package . Up to 10 premium answers to 31 tricky scenario based questions (+ more) will make your life much easier in the interviews. Thank you for checking it out!

Regardless of your mistakes and how much they hurt, try to stay positive

Many people spend half of their lives mourning about missed opportunities , or things they could have done better. But what happened happened, we cannot turn back the clock, and miserable people only bring miserable atmosphere to the workplace. Hiring managers are aware of it, and try to hire people who think positively, regardless of their mistakes.

Ensure them tha t you are over it yet. Had your share of pain and disappointment, but eventually you try to get the best out of the situation , which means learning from your mistakes, and looking forward to better future ahead. That’s the attitude they hope for, and you should do your best to show such in an interview.

Do not limit yourself with mistakes you made at work

For someone in their mid thirties it is easy to come up with some big mistakes they made at work. But what if you are just starting your professional career ? In such a case, you have two options. One is saying that you haven’t made any big mistakes yet (check sample answer no. 3 on my list). The second one is actually referring to some mistakes you made in your school life, relationships , etc. At the end of the day, your attitude matters more than anything else to the interviewers . It doesn’t matter for them much whether you talk about mistakes you made at work, or mistakes you made in your personal life…

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! Do not forget to check also 7 sample answers to other tricky interview questions:

• What makes you stand out from the rest?
• Tell me about a time when you missed a deadline.
• How do you define success?
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Biggest Mistake in Life – Essay Sample

When we are young, we rarely realize what do we actually need from life. Though people do make plans and have desires, they seldomly understand which path do they have to take in order to achieve tangible results in any sphere.

For instance, when I was an adolescent I thought that high school is not necessary and decided not to get a diploma. I faced all the hardships of trying to find a job that would satisfy my needs (like paying the loan for my car, buying nice clothing, going out on weekends) and ego that was constantly pressuring my mind, but soon I came to the conclusion that without the diploma I will fail to achieve anything in my future life, in other words, I am going to be weak in the contemporary world of fierce competition.

Consequently, I went back to school to receive my diploma, and now I have a well-paid job and am pretty stable financially. My only concern as of today, is to make sure that my children will never follow my unintelligent steps and understand the value of high school education earlier then I did.

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Essays About Life Lessons: Top 5 Examples and 7 Prompts

Read our guide to see the top examples and prompts on essays about life lessons to communicate your thoughts effectively.

Jordan Peterson once said, “Experience is the best teacher, and the worst experiences teach the best lessons.” The many life lessons we’ll accumulate in our life will help us veer in the right direction to fulfill our destinies. Whether it’s creative or nonfiction, as long as it describes the author’s personal life experiences or worldview, recounting life lessons falls under the personal or narrative essay category. 

To successfully write an essay on this topic, you must connect with your readers and allow them to visualize, understand, and get inspired by what you have learned about life. To do this, you must remember critical elements such as a compelling hook, engaging story, relatable characters, suitable setting, and significant points. 

See below five examples of life lessons essays to inspire you:

1. Life Lessons That the First Love Taught Me by Anonymous on GradesFixer.Com

2. the dad’s life lessons and the role model for the children by anonymous on studymoose.com, 3. studying history and own mistakes as life lessons: opinion essay by anonymous on edubirdie.com, 4. life lessons by anonymous on phdessay.com, 5. valuable lessons learned in life by anonymous on eduzaurus.com, 1. life lessons from books, 2. my biggest mistake and the life lesson i learned, 3. the life lessons i’ve learned, 4. life lessons from a popular show, 5. using life lessons in starting a business, 6. life lessons you must know, 7. kids and life lessons.

“I thought I knew absolutely everything about loving someone by the age of fourteen. Clearly I knew nothing and I still have so much to learn about what it is like to actually love someone.”

The author relates how their first love story unfolds, including the many things they learned from it. An example is that no matter how compatible the couple is if they are not for each other, they will not last long and will break up eventually. The writer also shares that situations that test the relationship, such as jealousy, deserve your attention as they aid people in picking the right decisions. The essay further tells how the writer’s relationship became toxic and affected their mental and emotional stability, even after the breakup. To cope and heal, they stopped looking for connections and focused on their grades, family, friends, and self-love.

“I am extremely thankful that he could teach me all the basics like how to ride a bike, how to fish and shoot straight, how to garden, how to cook, how to drive, how to skip a rock, and even how to blow spitballs. But I am most thankful that could teach me to stand tall (even though I’m 5’3”), be full with my heart and be strong with my mind.”

In this essay, the writer introduces their role model who taught them almost everything they know in their seventeen years of life, their father. The writer shares that their father’s toughness, stubbornness, and determination helped them learn to stand up for themselves and others and not be a coward in telling the truth. Because of him, the author learned how to be kind, generous, and mature. Finally, the author is very grateful to their father, who help them to think for themselves and not believe everything they hear.

“In my opinion, I believe it is more important to study the past rather than the present because we can learn more from our mistakes.”

This short essay explains the importance of remembering past events to analyze our mistakes. The author mentions that when people do this, they learn and grow from it, which prevents them from repeating the same error in the present time. The writer also points out that everyone has made the mistake of letting others dictate how their life goes, often leading to failures. 

“… I believe we come here to learn a valuable lesson. If we did not learn this lesson through out a life time, our souls would come back to repeat the process.” 

This essay presents three crucial life lessons that everyone needs to know. The first is to stop being too comfortable in taking people and things for granted. Instead, we must learn to appreciate everything. The second is to realize that mistakes are part of everyone’s life. So don’t let the fear of making mistakes stop you from trying something new. The third and final lesson is from Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” People learn and grow as they age, so everyone needs to remember to live their life as if it were their last with no regrets.

“Life lessons are not necessarily learned from bad experiences, it can also be learned from good experiences, accomplishments, mistakes of other people, and by reading too.”

The essay reminds the readers to live their life to the fullest and cherish people and things in their lives because life is too short. If you want something, do not let it slip away without trying. If it fails, do not suffer and move on. The author also unveils the importance of travelling, keeping a diary, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

7 Prompts for Essays About Life Lessons

Use the prompts below if you’re still undecided on what to write about:

As mentioned above, life lessons are not only from experiences but also from reading. So for this prompt, pick up your favorite book and write down the lessons you learned from it. Next, identify each and explain to your readers why you think it’s essential to incorporate these lessons into real life. Finally, add how integrating these messages affected you. 

There are always lessons we can derive from mistakes. However, not everyone understands these mistakes, so they keep doing them. Think of all your past mistakes and choose one that had the most significant negative impact on you and the people around you. Then, share with your readers what it is, its causes, and its effects. Finally, don’t forget to discuss what you gained from these faults and how you prevent yourself from doing them again.

Compile all the life lessons you’ve realized from different sources. They can be from your own experience, a relative’s, a movie, etc. Add why these lessons resonate with you. Be creative and use metaphors or add imaginary scenarios. Bear in mind that your essay should convey your message well.

Popular shows are an excellent medium for teaching life lessons to a broad audience. In your essay, pick a well-known work and reflect on it. For example, Euphoria is a TV series that created hubbub for its intrigue and sensitive themes. Dissect what life lessons one can retrieve from watching the show and relate them to personal encounters. You can also compile lessons from online posts and discussions.

If the subject of “life lessons” is too general for you, scope a more specific area, such as entrepreneurship. Which life lessons are critical for a person in business? To make your essay easier to digest, interview a successful business owner and ask about the life lessons they’ve accumulated before and while pursuing their goals.

Use this prompt to present the most important life lessons you’ve collected throughout your life. Then, share why you selected these lessons. For instance, you can choose “Live life as if it’s your last” and explain that you realized this life lesson after suddenly losing a loved one.

Have you ever met someone younger than you who taught you a life lesson? If so, in this prompt, tell your reader the whole story and what life lesson you discovered. Then, you can reverse it and write an incident where you give a good life lesson to someone older than you – say what it was and if that lesson helped them. Read our storytelling guide to upgrade your techniques.

Home / Essay Samples / Life / Mistake / Personal Narrative: Learning From My Mistake

Personal Narrative: Learning From My Mistake

• Category: Education , Life
• Topic: College Days , Mistake , Personal Experience

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