Mistakes of past 15 years

By Ramesh Akkineni

It is always better to review old mistakes before committing new ones..

  1. not making punctuality a habit and worse, being regularly irregular.. That’s what my physics teacher used to say about me.. I am sure most of my batch mates will agree with him..
  2. being lazy when it was evident that hard work was needed to change the future a lot better..
  3. joining architecture course in IIT.. I didn’t realize that I didn’t have the aptitude and attitude required for it.. also it didn’t suit my self image of myself and what I wanted to do in future..
  4. being stubbornly fixated on a single idea when it was evident that even banyan trees sway during a storm.. also not realizing that when we are in a pit we have to stop digging..
  5. caring a lot about others’ opinion.. we have to analyze the situation correctly and take the right decision and not be afraid even when every one else advises against it ..
  6. not learning from other’s mistakes.. I used to read about other’s mistakes in lot of books but some how I could not stop from making similar ones..
  7. thinking that I am special.. that I will succeed where every one else has failed..
  8. interrupting others while they are talking and refusing to be stop when they wanted me to stop talking..
  9. rejecting other’s suggestions even before evaluating them..
  10. not knowing the importance of compounding earlier in my life..
  11. many times I didn’t act on my knowledge.. I couldn’t learn that predicting winter doesn’t count, protecting one self counts..
  12. not knowing that keeping mouth shut is an essential part of success.. hard work and play being other parts…
  13. to go fast you have to ride a good horse.. I didn’t realize this early enough..
  14. not to use the 80-20 effect even after knowing it for long…
  15. not being able to realize that apparently small things matter a great deal to people… Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
  16. not learning from even some of my own mistakes… that makes me a fool...
  17. not giving thanks when it is due..
  18. not being neat and tidy even when it was obvious that neatness has its uses..
  19. not knowing that perceptions matter when you are doing business.. most of businesses depend on trust.. it is very easy to lose trust and reputation and very hard and almost impossible to regain lost trust or to repair a tarnished reputation..
  20. not leaving architecture course in IIT when it was apparent that I was wasting very important years of my life..
  21. not being able to communicate my plans properly and not trying to improve..
  22. picking up arguments and fights when it was obvious that he who treads lightly goes far..
  23. not admitting mistakes to others and even to myself..
  24. not doing this review often enough…
  25. thinking that I can improve ..as it may not be possible to change some things or correct some past mistakes…

there are many more … it is too soon to judge some other actions… as some one said that it is too soon to say whether French revolution was a good thing or not.. Every one is welcome to comment and offer suggestions and criticism..

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