MBA Essay Tips for Writing about your mistakes and the lessons learned from them

The nice thing about mistakes is that everyone makes them. Learning is the key aspect of life, and the source is infinite. You can learn from your achievements as well as your mistakes. In fact, to be honest we learn most from our mistakes. But it again depends on how and what has one learned from one’s mistakes? It is absolutely normal for any human doing a mistake, but problems crop up for us when we ignore the mistakes and the areas where they can be improved. A mistake has a wider scope than a failure because not all mistakes necessarily lead to failure, though a mistake may lead to a failure. A mistake may at times lead to a positive unintended outcome.

It is critical that you learned something meaningful about yourself from your mistake. And your learning about yourself should be important, otherwise why do you prefer telling admissions about it? You may very well find that one way of showing what you learned by discussing how you applied your lesson to a new situation. 

Also depending on what your role was, your reaction is also very important. The question does ask you to focus on a specific mistake and explain what you learned from it. It is suggested to focus on one major mistake in order to fully explain what you learned from it. Admittedly, it is not possible to effectively analyze and discuss what you learned from multiple mistakes. Again, keep in mind that what you learned is the key for providing an effective answer here. 

Ask yourself: What was the biggest mistake you made that you have learned from? Write on that topic. Keep in mind that we are talking about real learning, not simply being reminded of something you knew. One excellent demonstration that something was learned is its application to a new situation. Think about demonstrating the value of what you learned. 

The basic components that can help you answering this question are;

1. Clearly state what the mistake was.
2. Clearly state your role.
3. Explain how you reacted to the situation.
4. Explain what you learned.
5. Discuss how your learning will help you in improving your personal and professional skills.
6. State how it will benefit you in the long run.
7. Do you really consider it as an important factor that will help facilitate your growth?

Your essay should involve an equal weighted analysis of the past, present and future. You need to analyze your mistake and the lesson you learned from it. Discuss the things that you discovered from your mistake and how can you implement those in inspiring your team. Highlight a point that you learned from one of your mistakes and the way you have utilized it to improve your skills and knowledge for the future.