Real mistakes are mistakes of judgment, of intuition. You thought X was true and acted on it. Turns out, X was false.
Bullshit mistakes are mistakes of second-guessing. You thought X was true and then talked yourself out of it and didn’t act. Turns out, X was true.
The point is: to act and expose your judgment to mistakes. That’s how it gets better.
From Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s The Invitation: an exhortation to make real mistakes. I learned about this book from The Warrior Poet, podcast 54.