This article is about learning from the mistakes we make. It goes without saying that we all make errors in life however the most successful people do not let it get them down and try to treat these mistakes as a learning curve. I hope you find the article interesting and beneficial.

My parents taught me a lot of things about life and I clearly remember my father sitting me down when I was around fourteen years of age and speaking to me about this subject. He stated that he thought I was a decent person who knew right from wrong, he was however aware that I would make some mistakes.

He continued that he would not ask me to come home by a certain point at night and that he would let me make my own choices. If at any point he heard or learnt that I had done something that he thought was wrong or stupid, he would not tell me off but instead he would ask me if I agreed that I had been stupid etc. If I agreed, that would be the end of the matter, the problem would only occur if I then made the same mistake again as that would mean I had not learnt from the experience. He would then in his words, come down on me like a ton of bricks.

I agreed that this seemed fair and carried on living my life. I wondered what he had meant by the ton of bricks statement. I did make many mistakes and we had to have our chat on many occasions, I am happy to say that I did learn from my errors and never had to find out what he had meant.

I myself now have two children, both of which are fairly young at five and twelve years of age. I have tried to install a similar approach, however have changed it slightly. I have said to them that in life all I expect of them is to try their best. It does not really matter what grades they obtain as long as they put in one hundred percent of effort. They are also aware that I accept that they will be naughty at times and as long as they except what ever punishment is given, then there will be no problem. I am not a harsh parent, a bit of a wimp really and this punishment will normally be them having to tidy their room.

I am somebody who loves playing sport. I am very competitive and do not like losing. I have had to accept that at times I will lose, however when I do I always ask myself a question, what could I have done differently today? What could I do differently next time I play to ensure the result is a positive one?

I am very grateful to this lesson my parents taught me and hope that in the future my children will be thankful at the way I and their mother have raised them.