Last week, I shared that I want to learn more about psychology to improve my decision-making and because it seems like a fun topic. Charlie Munger famously studied the failures of others to understand thinking errors. That approach resonates with me, and I decided it’s best to start by regularly analyzing my own failures. I wasn’t sure how, though, so I started looking for ways others have done this.

I started rereading The Warren Buffett Way by Robert Hagstrom and found a great idea. Hagstrom says that Buffett included in his Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder letter a section called Mistake Du Jour. In it, he “confessed not only mistakes made but opportunities lost because he failed to act appropriately.” He was transparent about his mistakes and shared them broadly.

I’m a huge fan of update emails (see here, here, and here). But I can’t recall ever seeing an update email with a section dedicated to the founder's mistakes. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it’s brilliant. It’s a great way to make a habit of analyzing your own mistakes—and also to build trust with others and maybe even get unexpected advice based on how other people navigated similar mistakes.

My weekly update blog posts are inspired by update emails. Including a mistake du jour–type section in them would be cool. It would check the box regarding forming a habit to analyze my mistakes and force me to crystallize and communicate them concisely. If I also force myself to include the lesson learned, this could be even better. I’m not sure about some things and need to think about them (e.g., will I have enough to do this weekly, or should I do it monthly?). But I like this idea and want to add my mistakes to my 2025 weekly updates.