What happens in a situation where you learnt something later than when you could have implemented it if you'd learnt about it earlier?
Sitting on my chair one cool afternoon and thinking about lots of things about life and the future, the above question crossed my mind and immediately, I jotted it down because I was curious to know what one word could be used to describe such a situation. I believe it has happened a lot of times to many people including you reading my post right now.
I decided to ask online for that particular term I needed and the word for it is called 'hindsight bias' or 'missed opportunity'. I think I like the former better.
What does hindsight bias mean? This happens in a situation where you learned or realized something too late that could have been applied earlier to achieve a better result or to avoid mistakes. In this kind of scenario, you feel frustrated and would start to feel regretful and blame yourself for not coming across such tips early enough before you did that presentation or stood on a stage to deliver a speech.
This hindsight bias has happened to me a lot of times when I realised something too late after I might have completed the task or given my opinion on something and I would wish the scene could be replayed again while everything starts from the beginning so I could apply that new knowledge to get a better result than the former. I used to feel frustrated and would want to bite my fingers for the regret of finding it too late.
Imagine a group of students who later found an effective study technique just after they have written their final papers. The students may feel a deep sense of regret and annoyance knowing the newfound techniques could have significantly improved their grades if only they'd learned them earlier.
Do you know how painful it is for one who had just submitted his or her paper and walked out of the exam hall while other students who had finished theirs earlier started to gist and share their answers, and there is the fellow feeling pained knowing the correct answer to a question they'd found difficult to solve but only did the little they knew would have made a difference.
Or a professional who learns about a new tool or strategy right after completing a major task/project. The frustration in this situation stems from knowing the new tool or strategy learnt could have been used earlier while saving them the effort and countless hours which would have resulted in a better outcome.
Don't worry when you find yourself in this relatable experience as you can cope with the following practices;
The first thing is to not go hard but be soft on yourself. You need to understand that learning is a continuous process and no one is an island of knowledge, we can't know it all at once; it's impossible.
Focus on the future. We learn new things to apply them to the next task. When you find out something new, don't dwell on your past mistakes but apply the newfound knowledge moving forward.
Reflect and learn. Take the opportunity to discover the reasons you hadn't come across such information sooner, focusing on what to be done to prevent similar situations in the future.
Lastly, appreciate yourself for coming across the new knowledge and make sure you are grateful for those little moments of life while working towards improving yourself towards the next project, exam, career talk etc.
First image:Castorly Stock on Pexels || Second image:Ivan Samkov on Pexels
