Knowing When to Back Down and Admit Your Mistakes

It's never easy to admit you're not right 100% of the time. However, it's important to know when to back down and admit your mistakes. In fact, how you view mistakes can tell a lot about your character.

It's important to have a positive attitude toward slip-ups. If you admit you made a mistake, you can work at correcting it quicker than if you deny it ever happened. Of course, if you never acknowledge your blunders, you'll never be able to correct them.

Who Makes Mistakes?

Let's consider people you know and respect. Have they ever had a lapse of judgment? Of course they have! The question is, do they "fess up" to their mistakes or do they try to hide them out of embarrassment?

In reality, if someone slips-up and tries to hide it, that's when people begin to distrust them, not because they made the mistake in the first place!

We all make mistakes; after all, no one's perfect.

When you make a mistake, it's easy to ignore the problem or blame someone else for it. The problem with either of these solutions is that you're eroding the trust others have in you a little bit each day.

What Should You Do When You Make A Mistake?

Admitting you've made a mistake is actually part of building a trusting relationship. By admitting your failures, you're letting other people know you can take responsibility for your actions and the consequences that follow.

Open the door and give yourself an opportunity to make things right!

Here are some simple steps you can take as soon as you realize you've made a mistake:

1. Accept that you've made a mistake. Take responsibility for it. Decide within yourself that it's better for you to take ownership of the situation rather than try to deny it happened or cover it up. 

2. Discuss it. Ask the other people involved if you can talk about your mistake, what you did wrong, and how you might correct it. 

3. Allow other people to express how they feel about the mistake and what the consequences might be. 

4. Listen to what the other person is saying. Put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel if the situation was reversed? 

5. Apologize and actually mean it. You may want to explain your reasons for doing what you did; it may help the other person see that your heart was in the right place, if that's the case. 

6. Do what you can to make things right. Work with the other person to decide on the best way for you to make amends. 

7. Be determined to learn a lesson from your mistake. Do whatever you can to avoid making the same blunder in the future. Tell the other person how you'll act differently. 

8. Don't dwell on your mistake. After you've talked it over with the other person and determined to make amends, let it go! Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on. Remember, though, that you may be starting over in building back the trust that you once had.

It's never easy admitting mistakes. Sometimes all you want to do is run rather than admit them. However, knowing when to back down and admit your mistakes is part of growing up, being mature, and showing the responsibility that, in the long run, encourages people to respect you.

