All experiences are not created equal.

Contrary to what you may have heard, experience is not the best teacher; educated experience is. There is a big difference between the two. Experience doesn’t teach you anything unless you take the time to learn from it. It is not enough to simply go through a situation; you have to grow through it.

We all know people who have gone through a lot but have learned nothing from it and show no change in their approach to life. Educating yourself about what you have acquired through your experiences will give you incredible insight into the future. Speaker Tim Fargo said, “Analyze your mistakes. You’ve already paid the tuition; you might as well get the lesson.”

It’s not what we’ve experienced that shapes us; it’s what we’ve learned from our experiences that truly shape us. Unless we take the time to reflect on our experiences, we are destined to repeat the past or forget about it. One of my mentors, Dr. John C. Maxwell, says, “Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.” Every experience brings with it a seed of success. Don’t waste your experiences. Vernon Howard said, “Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will.”

Keep yourself consistently curious, and you’ll find yourself continuously courageous.

Take time to sit down and learn from every experience, and you’ll gain wisdom for a greater future.

King Solomon, known as the wisest man in the Bible, wrote many wise sayings in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. God granted him wisdom because…

1. He asked for it above all else, and
2. He committed himself to learning from his experiences.

The following verse pretty much sums up his whole outlook on life; we would do well to adopt it for ours, as well:

Proverbs 24:32 (NIV)

I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw:

What experiences are you surrounding yourself with so you can learn and draw out your potential?