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So essentially, you learn to ignore thoughts?

It seems hard to do because some thinking about old mistakes seems essential to not make new ones. Am I missing a key element?

Curious as I think I dwell on the past too much and don’t focus on the present

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I wouldn't say essential. You might think of dwelling on old mistakes and trying really hard to avoid them as over fitting? You can lose out on seeing possible new mistakes you need to avoid.

The issue is when you think about them too much. After a certain point dwelling on something for longer (sometimes much longer) than necessary becomes counterproductive and is simply taking away your attention from more important things that are actually happening to you in the present.

Will you come to any new conclusions about how to deal with a problem if you think about an old mistake 50 times? 100 times? Do you need to consciously think about how to move your legs every time you go for a walk in case you stumble?

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