Lessons Learned

There are two important questions that you can use to turn any disappointment, failure, or other frustrating occurrence into a success. They will help you persist in the face of adversity. These questions aren't a secret - you may have heard of them.

The first question that you ask yourself, no matter what might have happened is, "What did I do right?" Your response should only come after you've analyzed every single thing that you did right in that situation. Even if the situation turned out to be a disaster, there were certain things that you did that were worthwhile and worth repeating.

Then, ask yourself, "What would I do differently if I had this situation to do over again?" This forces you to think about the future and what you could do the next time rather than think about the past and what may have happened.

Both of these questions require positive answers that enable you to extract the maximum value out of every situation. Both of these questions require you to keep your mind focused and your future oriented. Both of these questions enable you to learn and grow at a more rapid rate - a prized benefit.

When you ask these two questions, "What did I do right?" and "What would I do differently?" after every situation, you will learn and grow more in the next month than another person might learn and grow in two or three years, if at all.

If you work with other people, you should conduct a review with these questions after every important situation, "What did we do right? What should we do differently next time?" You will be amazed at how much you can learn. Diligent application (and, this is a "key" since you can't do it half-heartedly - you must focus and concentrate to derive the most benefit) of this practice will help you many times over - you'll be pleasantly surprised. Just try it once and judge for yourself.