change your life by learning how to admit you're wrong
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3/26/14 Change Your Life by Learning How to Admit You're Wrong
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Home » Life Hacks » General Tips » Change Your Life by Learning How to Admit You're Wrong
Change Your Life by Learning How to
Admit You're Wrongby Sarah Winfrey on 24 March 2014
We all know the uncomfortable feeling of
suddenly realizing that mistakes have been
made, and the mistakes were our own. That
feeling is almost always followed by the
realization that there's a choice to make. You
can admit the mistake, and take whatever
consequences might be forthcoming, or you can
try to hide your culpability and hope that no one
notices. (See also: Ways to Improve Your
Decision-Making Skills)
It usually feels a lot easier to hide the truth. There's something about being human that
makes us hesitate to admit fault, even when it's obvious to us and to everyone else that
we screwed up.
However, what is easy isn't always right. In fact, admitting you are wrong can change the
way others relate to you, and can make you a stronger leader than you've ever been
before.
Build Relationships
Why in the world would telling the truth, even when it means saying you're wrong, make
your life better?
Trust is basic to any relationship, and you engender trust when you admit you're wrong.
Think about it. When you know that someone is wrong but they won't admit it, that
relationship doesn't feel very good. In fact, it feels like being right is more important to
that person than having an honest, open relationship with you.
Don't be that person.
When you can admit that you're wrong, you show others that you value truth and having
good relationships over never being wrong. That not only makes you trustworthy, but also
makes you approachable, because others know that they can admit their mistakes to you.
(See also: Make Friends and Be Happy)
PERS O N A L F IN A N C E F RU G A L L IV IN G C A REER L IF E H A C K S BES T DEA L S C REDIT C A RDS T O P PF BL O G S MO RE
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(See also: Make Friends and Be Happy)
When you admit that you're wrong, you also prove wrong the common belief that
admitting mistakes makes you weak. In fact, it's not admitting your mistakes that weakens
you as a leader, and weakens your entire organization (whether that is a business, a
country, or a family).
Not acknowledging your mistakes means that you have to find someone else to blame for
whatever goes wrong. This means that you end up playing a blame game with employees,
family members, neighbors, and this undermines your relationships with them. When
someone knows that whatever happened wasn't their fault and you persist in blaming
them anyway, you are the one who looks like an uncaring fool.
Learn From Your Mistakes
Making mistakes is human. Since we aren't all-knowing or all-powerful, sometimes we just
don't have either the insight or the ability (or both!) to avoid misjudging a situation and,
therefore, taking it on from the wrong direction.
However, there's a difference between letting yourself make mistakes and doing the same
wrong thing over and over again. Mistakes are human, but they are also learning
experiences, and we can improve our responses the next time.
When we admit that we are wrong, that we have actually made a mistake, we state out
loud the problem that we have created and we take responsibility for it. Both of these
things make it less likely that we will make that mistake next time. Articulating it helps us
define what actually went wrong, and taking responsibility motivates us to do better next
time. (See also: How to Learn From Your Mistakes)
Gain Respect
When people see you being honest and learning from your mistakes, they will gain new
respect for you. We all know that everyone makes mistakes, and that sinking feeling when
we realize that we are responsible for tanking a particular situation. And so we all know
how much courage it takes to say, "I was wrong. I'm sorry."
Think about other people who you have seen admit their fault. I remember a couple of
situations. They are vivid in my mind, even though they happened years ago, and I deeply
admire the people who I saw stand up, admit they were wrong, and then work to make
changes.
If you want to stand out, whether it's at work, among friends, or at home, you won't do it
by putting on a veneer of perfection. Instead, admit it when you're wrong. Ask for
forgiveness. Let others see you working to change. If you are sincere in your apology and
diligent in your efforts to improve for the future, the people around you will notice and
they will esteem you for it.
Saying that you're wrong means that you are willing to earn the respect of the people
around you, rather than demanding it along with demanding that they live in your
alternate version of reality.
How to Admit You're Wrong
Now that you have a few solid reasons to think that admitting it when you're wrong might
be a good idea, it's time to think about how you might go about doing that. After all, even
when you can say that it is GOOD to admit that you're wrong, it's still a HARD thing to do.
(See also: 7 Steps to Fix Any Mistake)
1. Admit the Truth to Yourself
Always start by telling yourself the truth. If you can't say, in your own heart, that you
were wrong, then any apology you give will feel insincere to the recipient. In addition,
working this out for yourself first gives you time to work through any issues you might
have with apologizing. You have a chance to tell yourself the truth, that it's human to be
wrong, and you are no more and no less than human. There's not something wrong with
you just because you made a mistake.
2. Be Simple and Clear
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Related and Popular
The easiest way to admit you're wrong is to say, "I was wrong, and I'm sorry." However,
it's best to go beyond this and add specifics about what you're sorry for, so that both
parties know exactly what is being discussed. Sometimes, what you're sorry for isn't
where someone else thought you went wrong, and so the situation will need more thought
and discussion before it can be resolved.
Some people like to try to admit that they are wrong without actually saying, "I'm sorry."
This can still be effective, but the easiest way to make it clear that you are admitting you
are wrong is to actually say those two, difficult words.
3. Discuss What Will Be Different
Once you've admitted your fault, talk about how you plan to do things differently in the
future. This shows that you have taken your mistake seriously and that you have thought
through how things need to be different in the future.
This holds true no matter what kind of mistake you have made. If you hurt someone with
your words, talk about how you will speak differently next time. If you made a mistake at
work, talk about the checks you have put in place so that the same thing doesn't happen
again. No matter how big of a mistake you've made, there are always steps you can take
to make sure it doesn't happen again.
You might think that there is more to it than these three steps, but the truth is that the
actual act of admitting you are wrong is pretty easy. It's the emotional processes behind
it that can make it feel like such a monumental task. The more you practice this, though,
the easier it will get to know when you are wrong, acknowledge it to yourself, apologize,
and make changes for the future.
How do you admit you're wrong? Do the right thing and let us know in comments!
Tagged: General Tips, Personal Development, error, meal culpa, Mistakes
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