Error messages are trying to teach you something

An error message feels like a wall, but it's closer to a clue. Most people panic, close the window, and start over from scratch. That throws away the most useful piece of information you had — the exact sentence telling you what went wrong.

Reading it slowly, even when it looks like nonsense at first, teaches you how the tool actually thinks. I keep a running list of error messages I've run into before, because half the time I've already solved that exact one months earlier. Over time you start recognizing patterns: this kind of error usually means a missing step, that kind usually means the wrong kind of information was entered somewhere.

Try this today: the next time something breaks, resist the urge to immediately start over. Read the full error message twice, slowly, and try to guess in plain words what it's telling you before you look anything up. Then check your guess. You'll build a habit that turns every future error into information instead of a dead end.