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How to overcome your mistakes

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Build Character

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People often describe failure as a teachable moment— a necessary stumble on our way to improvement. But learning from our mistakes isn’t always easy, especially when those failures are demoralizing, overwhelming, or just downright confusing. So what prevents us from turning our mistakes into mastery? Explore the biggest obstacles of learning from failure, and how to cultivate a growth mindset.

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Additional Resources for you to Explore

If you’d like to learn more about the science of motivation, do a deep dive into professors Lauren Eskreis-Winkler and Ayelet Fishbach’s paper, You Think Failure is Hard? So Is Learning From It. Their work explores why there may be more hurdles to the classic “teachable moment” than popular culture would like you to believe. You can also check out Fishbach’s 2022 book, Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, for scientific insight and practical strategies on how to get yourself on the path to achieving your goals.

Visit the Society for the Science of Motivation website to stay informed on the field’s latest findings.

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About Build Character

Character refers to ways of thinking, acting, and feeling that benefit others as well as ourselves. Character is plural—encompassing strengths of heart, mind, and will. Like social and emotional learning, the elements that make up character can be taught, learned and practiced, and we’re here to help. Explore this page to strengthen your kindness, grit, decision making, curiosity, emotional intelligence and more - brought to you by TED-Ed and Character Lab.

Meet The Creators

  • Video created by TED-Ed
  • Lesson Plan created by Hayley Levitt

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