By Marcus Freudenmann

It is quite evident that there is a point to learning. It is not important to only find one correct lesson and expect to know it all. The lesson that comes from failure is similarly important. The more mistakes we make, the more we arrive to a conclusion of a much greater scale than all the theoretical lessons we can ever learn from books.

Making mistakes should be a subject at school to teach all our children how to learn from them instead of how to avoid them. Did you know that many of the greatest inventions surfaced only after a succession of mistakes? That is, until all DO NOT’s showed a clear direction towards the solution of the problem.

Learning and growth can be translated into FREE WILL. We make a decision to change something in our lives and therefore express our free will. But then we have to bear the consequences of our actions. If we are successful on the first go, then we have either done our homework, or we were just in the right tune for this change. However, if we make a mistake and the goal is not reached, we should also be happy. Look at it this way: We have learned one way which does not work. There might be a few more to go. But in the end, we will eventually reach it if we learn from the process along the way.

“Never, never, never, never give up.”

Winston Churchill

We can define four basic principles of free will which lead to the growth and improvement of life.

The first type of learning over which we have free will is in choosing our social environment. We tend to choose friends whose personalities are similar to ours. We dwell on the recognition we receive by sharing the same interest and often invest much time and effort to be special in this group. You could call it “follow the followers”. We live our lives in our choice family and identify ourselves with the dynamic of this particular group.

If we wish to change our social status, we can do this through a concerted effort, but have to expect that the previous group does not support this process. If you like to learn, try to associate with those people you admire and who are doing what you want to do with your life. This is important because everybody with whom you become close friends will try to raise or lower you to their own level. For instance, if you meet people with high levels of education, you will see that they will teach you all the time. If you meet with sports people, they will try to get you to train with them.

Often people complain that they do not like to lose their friends when they move in new directions. In truth, it is fear of change or uncertainty of the new ventures. If you know you are going in the right direction, there is no reason to stop for anyone, as true friends would not stop you from growing. There are billions of friends out there waiting for you to come to their level. Stay there for a while; learn all there is to learn; and then move on. Never let yourself stop on your mission to live a fulfilled life.

The second area of free will is learning from mistakes. Making mistakes is very important. Never be discouraged as every failure leads you with greater clarity towards a huge success. Any improvement can only be made by constant learning.

Conscious acknowledgement of mistakes is the best learning we can make.

Making a mistake once is a common occurrence. Taking a risk and making the same mistake a second time is usually not a cause for concern, either. But to make a mistake repeatedly indicates a pattern or habit which is very important to recognize when trying to change your circumstances. If we choose not to learn the lessons of our mistakes, then we create a problem for ourselves, which I call “unconscious self-inflicted dilemma”. And isn’t that what we all have heaps of in life, like unconscious self inflicted diseases (junk food and unhealthy lifestyles), financial problems (unwise and unplanned actions) or broken relationships (careless actions and thoughts)?

An example of a self-inflicted problem might be trying to kick a habit that is detrimental to our health, like smoking. Even though people consciously know that this activity is harmful - at times even lethal - to the body, many still do it. Another very important lesson has something to do with financial success. Let’s say you have a product and you know that you can have a career selling it. You still need to rent a room, create brochures, design the website, create bank accounts, deal with accountants, set up a company, and so on. All these things, which require brave and determined action, have to be learned. If you fail the first time to do it correctly or completely, you still can improve and do better the second time. It is learning by doing that will create an expert.

The third area of life where we can exhibit our free will is in the area of work or career. There are numerous stories of a poor man starting with nothing but determination of becoming a millionaire. There are so many of these stories, in fact, that we often discount them as “hype.” However, if we follow these rules concerning our work and careers, we can achieve any goal.

The fourth area of free will is our own action, which results in a particular reaction from the world. “As you call into the forest, so it calls back”. If you walk through life giving compliments to others, you will see the good in them reflected back to you. You are perceived as a very nice person and you are liked. If you see the needs of others and you offer help you will also be liked. If you are in support of your colleagues and clients, helping them to achieve their goals, then you will be supported in like fashion. I have always referred to this as the piggybank of life, which is like a direct Karma account.

So be wary of this area of free will. It is a constant training of your awareness which can instantly alter your life for the better.