We often hear about folks who can’t learn from their mistakes, no matter how much guidance they are given. However, are you aware of what you call someone who does in fact, learn from mistakes? This article will be highlighting usable terms to describe those who do learn from mistakes.
What Do You Call Someone Who Learns From Their Mistakes?
As mentioned, this article will be taking an in-depth look at appropriate terms for an individual that learns from their mistakes. The ten particular terms we will go over are:
- Corrigible
- Adaptive
- Resilient
- Sensible
- Self-Aware
- Sagacious
- Heuristic
- Humble
- Teachable
- Prudent
The preferred version we will highlight is “corrigible”. This is because when we express that we believe that someone is “corrigible”, we mean to say that we think that they are capable of being corrected or reformed. Often we consider this person a quick learner.
Corrigible
Cambridge Dictionary defines “incorrigible” as a person or behaviour that is bad and impossible to change or improve. We look at the term “corrigible” as the exact opposite, describing a person or behaviour that is willing to change or can be taught differently.
Generally, we will view a “corrigible” person as someone who handles constructive criticism well and is willing to make the appropriate changes to better themselves. This is someone who will certainly learn from mistakes or unfortunate situations.
Here are a few examples using this term:
- The judge and jury both believed that there was hope for the corrigible convict.
- Unlike most children, she was very corrigible and apologetic for the mistakes or wrongdoings she committed.
- I viewed him as corrigible in our relationship; he was always willing to learn and grow from his mistakes.
Adaptive
Cambridge Dictionary defines “adaptive” as having the ability to change to suit changing conditions. Therefore, we will often consider a person who is “adaptive” to be constantly changing, learning and growing throughout their life and the challenges or mistakes that they may face.
We consider someone who is “adaptive” to be able to change their ideas or behaviours in response to a certain situation or dilemma.
To showcase how to appropriately use this term, we will go over the following examples:
- She was adaptive throughout the university, always being able to properly figure out her next step or overcome any mistakes or obstacles.
- We teach our employees how to perform under pressure and in an adaptive manner.
- The most effective leaders are highly adaptive and able to change up their plans, according to the present situation or issue at hand.
Resilient
Cambridge Dictionary defines “resilient” as the ability to be happy, successful, etc., again after something difficult or bad has happened. Therefore, we often think of a “resilient” person as someone who is able to overcome moments of weakness or error, learn from them, and push forward to a positive solution.
We often consider a “resilient” person who is able to withstand something or recover from an embarrassing or upsetting situation well. This is often a very determined person or someone who openly admits to their mistakes in order to grow.
We will now go over the following examples:
- She’s a very resilient girl – she won’t let this get her down for long.
- Babies tend to be far more resilient than new or young parents cold ever realize.
- He was resilient and always willing to learn from his mistakes, making him a very respectable employee.
Sensible
Cambridge Dictionary defines “sensible” as based on or acting on good judgement and practical ideas or understanding. Therefore, we often consider a “sensible” person to be someone who despite making a mistake or judgment error, will be practical and figure out what they can learn from the situation.
We also think of someone who is “sensible” as being understanding. This is someone with the ability to comprehend the full extent of a situation and functionally grow from it.
Here are a few examples that highlight the use of this particular term:
- He was a sensible man, that understood how he could best learn from a mistake or negative situation.
- I think the sensible thing to do would be to allow the management team to know about our error.
- It’s supposed to rain and the sensible thing to do would be to bring my umbrella. Last time I forgot and I won’t be letting that happen again!
Self-Aware
Cambridge Dictionary defines “self-aware” as knowing and understanding yourself very well. Because of this, we often express someone is very “self-aware” when we believe that they have the ability to understand what they’ve potentially done wrong in a situation, admit to it, and also learn from it.
We generally consider folks who are “self-aware” to be someone who can view their thoughts, emotions, or objectives in life objectively.
For further explanation, here are a few examples using this term in a sentence:
- He is self-aware enough to realize that he needs help to correct and work on his mistakes.
- She was self-aware and able to recognize what she had done wrong in her past relationships, making her a better person for her future partner.
- To be self-aware is to possess the ability to associate our mistakes with certain actions or things we’ve said.
Sagacious
Cambridge Dictionary defines “sagacious” as having or showing understanding and the ability to make good judgements. For this reason, we will generally think of someone as “sagacious” when they are very good at recognizing their flaws or mistakes the first time they are made and immediately correcting them.
Someone who is “sagacious” often shows a high level of mental discernment and is able to make the appropriate judgement calls with little to no help.
Here are a few examples to help clarify how to use this term:
- She was sagacious enough to avoid an outright confrontation.
- He was a sagacious individual and it came across in his work, where he seemingly always chose the best course of action.
- She is working on her accountability and attempting to be more sagacious in her daily life.
Heuristic
Cambridge Dictionary defines “heuristic” as a method of teaching, that allows students to learn by discovering things themselves and learning from their experiences rather than by telling them things. Therefore, when we consider someone to be “heuristic”, we mean that they choose to learn from their mistakes, without being prompted.
We often consider someone who is “heuristic” to take it upon themselves to constantly learn and adapt. They do not necessarily need someone to teach them things or to point out their mistakes; they figure it out on their own.
Some examples that we can go over that use this term are:
- He was a heuristic person by nature; always choosing to learn everything he could from any given situation.
- The teacher used a heuristic method on squabbling students so that they could learn to deal with confrontation effectively.
- My mother had a very heuristic parenting style, where she truly wanted us, kids, to learn from our mistakes.
Humble
Cambridge Dictionary defines “humble” as not proud or not believing you are important. However, we often associate “humility or “being humble” as a positive character trait or personality aspect. This is often because someone who is “humble” has a higher level of self-control and better social relationships.
This is often because folks who are “humble” can immediately recognize and correct mistakes they are making or improper ways of speaking.
Here are some examples that dictate the use of this term:
- He’s very humble about his success, as she never wants others to feel poorly about themselves.
- In my humble opinion, we both have a lot to learn from that situation.
- She was humble throughout their relationship and always tried to correct and learn from her mistakes or their arguments.
Teachable
Cambridge Dictionary defines “teachable” as some able to be or that can be taught. Therefore, we often consider someone who is “teachable” to be highly receptive to learning from their mistakes. This is generally someone willing to intake the appropriate information to grow and learn.
We can also consider a moment to be “teachable”, as in there is something worth learning from it. Therefore, mistakes that we make would be considered a “teachable moment”.
To help further clarify how to use this term, we’ll now look at a few examples:
- He used the ongoing conflict as a teachable moment, ensuring to learn from it, so it wouldn’t occur again.
- Students today tend to be far less teachable than they used to be – there are far too many distractions.
- She is a very teachable student and person, always willing to learn from her mistakes.
Prudent
The last alternative we will go over is “prudent”. Cambridge Dictionary defines “prudent” as careful and avoiding risks. Because of this, we often consider someone who is “prudent” to be showing immense care and thought for their future. They are also someone who generally cares about how their actions and words affect others.
To be “prudent” is also to be good at handling practical matters or dealing with your mistakes appropriately.
Finally, we will go over our last few examples:
- He was very prudent when spending his money. After years of being a spender, he began to learn his lesson.
- A prudent individual will always read a contract before feeling comfortable enough to sign it.
- She was prudent enough to learn from her mistakes and positively affect her future.