Admitting Mistakes

Nobody likes to admit that they are wrong. It’s much easier and feels much nicer to be right. But when it comes down to it, nobody is perfect. But even when we tell ourselves that rationally, everybody makes mistakes; it doesn’t take away the embarrassment of making that mistake. 

The fear that stops most people is that they may not be sure that someone else will forgive them. And because it takes a lot of guts and courage to admit to those mistakes, it’s an uncertainty that we often can’t predict the outcome. However, most people have found in the long run that others respect them more for admitting to their mistakes and they also respect themselves more. 

The number one thing to remember when admitting your mistakes is to acknowledge the effect on others. People rarely forgive or understand mistakes that others make if they are rationalizing their actions or making it about themselves. Examples might include, ‘I know this impacted you because it makes others view you/our relationship differently’ or ‘I can understand if you are upset but I’m hoping we can work through this’ or ‘I know how much these things meant to you and I hate that you must be hurting and I caused that hurt.’

One of the things about mistakes is the shame we feel inside. Everyone always has choices on how they handle this shame. You can choose to ignore the mistake and not own up to it. This puts you at a greater risk of repeating the mistake. Or you can own up to it and clear your conscience. Admitting the mistake is the first step at looking at what lead to the mistake and making changes for that mistake to never happen again.