Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 139: Is Experience The Best Teacher?

In your understanding, kindly define "Experience".

To my understanding experience is simply the practical knowledge, wisdom, and understanding that a person has gained through direct involvement in events, activities, situations, and challenges.

Source

Experience is beyond seeing or hearing about something it involves going through something personally, and also experience shapes the way we react, think, make decisions, and the way we grow in life. We learn perfectly from our experience in life which is our experience that teaches us what to do better.

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Do you agree or disagree with the statement "Experience is the best Teacher"? Defend your take

I sincerely agree a little bit with the statement that "Experience is the best teacher" because we learn perfectly from our experience in life as experience leaves us with strong lessons that are difficult for us to forget.

When we pass through success, failure, pain, or challenges, the lessons we learn become personal and meaningful to us. Experience teaches us about responsiblity, patience, emotional strength, and problem solving in a wash that theory alone cannot teach us.

However, the reason why I partially agree to the statement is that sometimes learning through personal experience can be costly, dangerous, or painful to us. We don't need to make every mistake personally before learning.

The best is listening to wise advice, reading books, and learning from mentors, which can save and prevent us from unnecessary suffering.

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Is learning from mistakes faster or slower than learning from books or a mentor? Share with us your thoughts

Learning from mistakes can sometimes be faster for us because emotional or painful experiences are easier for us to remember. Like when people fail at something, they often become more careful and determined not to repeat the same mistake again. Also, real-life situations teach us practical lessons faster.

The thing is learning only through mistakes may also be slower for us because trial and error can waste our time, energy, money, and opportunities. Mentors and books help us to learn faster from the experience of others without suffering the consequences personally.

This is because

• Books provide us with knowledge
• Mentors teach and provide guidance
• Experience provides us with understanding.

All of the above create balanced growth.

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How would you balance between learning by experience and listening to someone who has been there?

A good balance is the one that comes from being willing to learn from both the wisdom of experienced people and personal practice. I would first like to listen carefully to people who have already walked in the path that I want to follow.

Their advice can be a help for me to avoid common mistakes and provide me with direction. Attending training, reading books, and seeking mentorship are important steps.

Also, I would still take action and gain personal experience because mastery and true confidence come through practice.