Personal experience provides the best life lessons. I firmly believe that.

To be clear, I’m grateful when people share their experiences with me. It shows a generosity of spirit when someone takes the time to explain a lesson they’ve learned just to spare us the same unpleasant experience. And who doesn’t value a cautionary tale? We all strive to avoid those same pitfalls, if at all possible.

There are the straightforward examples that stick with us forever.

• Don’t touch a hot stove. Check! I’ll heed that warning and avoid that particular pain. Thank you very much.
• Use the bathroom before leaving for a long—or even longish—commute. Again, check! No need to challenge that recommendation.
• Pack extra underwear. Why not?

There are warnings that strike fear in our hearts.

• Read every word of your publishing contract. And, after you read it, question the clauses you don’t understand. This is critical. We’re the ones who have to live with those contracts. It’s our signature on the documents. This advice also applies to  vendor contracts, loan applications, etc. Make sure you understand what you’re signing.

• Get a second opinion. If someone tells you something as though it’s a fact, consider verifying their information before repeating it. One of my college journalism professors loved to say, “If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.” I don’t think you need to do that. We can trust our moms. In other situations, I recommend getting a second opinion. It wouldn’t hurt.

Then there are the cautions you almost need to experience so they leave an indelible impression.

• Keep an organized filing system. Sadly, this is a lesson I keep re-learning. I use index cards to outline my manuscript, one scene per card. Last week, as I reviewed the outline of a manuscript I’d set aside years ago, I realized it was incomplete. I hadn’t transcribed all my index cards. I also hadn’t filed my index cards in the folder for that manuscript. I wasted a lot of time, searching my office for those cards. Frustrating. I finally found them among a stack of papers on one of my bookcases. (Note to self: Clean office.)
• Back up your hard drive daily. I’d heard this warning over and over again. Unfortunately, I wasn’t evangelized until my computer kicked the bucket unexpectedly. (This may or may not have had anything to do with a New York Knicks loss. I will neither confirm nor deny this.) In any event, now I’m a hard-drive-backing-up fool.

Questions: What’s one of the best lessons you’ve learned from personal experience? Or what’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever received? Feel free to share both, if you’d like.