Reflecting on experiences

We all experience many things, and there is a lot to be learned from those experiences. The question is: how do you actually learn from them?

As explained in Tara Jaye Frank’s book “ The Waymakers “, it’s not the experience itself that creates the learning. She shares:

John Dewey, American philosopher, educator, and cofounder of the philosophical movement known as pragmatism, once said, “We do not learn from experiences, we learn from reflecting on experiences.”

That’s a big part of why I write every day. I have experiences, I learn things from reading, and I pick up ideas in conversations, but they all disappear if I don’t properly reflect on them.

Journaling can do a great job of this as well, so if you journal in private you’re likely gaining most of the benefits that I get from writing on here. In either case, finding time to reflect is key to making your experiences something that will create real growth.

Originally published at https://www.mickmel.com on September 30, 2024.