Many of us find it tough to admit to our wrongs but there’s great benefit in doing so – what are those and how do we take steps to change this pattern of ours? I speak about all this and my personal experience in this podcast. Have a listen here…
…but if you can’t have a listen, then you can read what I’ve said too:
The Benefits of Admitting Your Wrongs
“Hi hellooo I’m Shruti and this is my podcast space where I speak about life lessons, chronic conditions, mental and physical health tips and experiences.
Firstly a big thank you to all of you who have taken the time out to message letting me know how you’ve connected with this podcast and have found it helpful – thank you to all of you – it’s been very encouraging and gives me more energy to keep at it :D…
Secondly and most importantly… let’s begin this podcast…
Today I’m going to speak about the benefits of admitting our wrongs, but before that, here’s where I’m coming from…
I grew up in a home where everyone had a strong opinion and enjoyed discussing it and this was not just a habit of my immediate family, but extended family as well…
… and the most beautiful thing about this was that it was encouraged – no matter how old you were or what gender you were – it didn’t matter. My family thrived on conversation and hearing varying points of view.
Even my usually very quiet mother would get involved – no one held back.
By seeing all this and being part of discussions on politics, cricket (cricket was the one that got everyone fired up the most), then there was religion and all sorts of random controversies or even interesting insights on how to live life – I observed quite a few things which I didn’t understand then, but got to know and appreciate as I grew older…
I learnt that talking, discussing and hearing opened up our minds – it brought together various perspectives, schools of thought and experiences but I also realised that in well contested discussions, many found it tough to appreciate the other person’s point of view or admit they were wrong themselves.
Over the years, I’ve seen that change – we still debate fiercely, we still have strong opinions, but we’ve learnt that everyone’s opinion is valid – no matter how ridiculous we may still find it and most importantly, we’ve learnt to admit we’re wrong.
In general, this also speaks volumes about how we are in our everyday lives and divides us into two types of people, are we ones who can recognise our mistakes and admit wherever needed that we were wrong or do we fall under the category of those who struggle with it and can’t?
For me, I’ve gone through this transition myself of being able to admit to my faults – not perfect at it obviously but largely I’ve managed to make this change of whether it’s a debate or a mistake in real life – admitting I’m wrong isn’t so tough anymore.
When you admit you’re wrong, you feel lighter because you’re not wasting your time justifying something that can’t be justified, or hiding something that shouldn’t be hidden. Instead, you’re freeing yourself of the burden of your mess-up and looking to understand it, resolve it and let it go… coming out of the situation having learnt and grown.
Very importantly, it helps you shed your ego and makes you more human…
But I thought about this further and felt that when we’ve erred, we feel guilty, embarrassed and even silly about it so we choose not to share or admit our mistakes or agree when someone else is right because it makes us go through such uncomfortable emotions with those other than ourselves – it makes us vulnerable.
Holding onto our ego drains us and stop us moving forward and like I said earlier it stops us growing, so how do we look to break this pattern?
I’ve put together four important points to help us get started – these are just starting points… So, I’ll begin..
1. The best place to start is in our small everyday mess ups – acknowledging it and being okay to say ‘sorry’ and working to rectify it.
Working on the small stuff gives us confidence to do the same for larger issues whenever they come up.
2. The next stage is that we need to be observant of how we are in discussions and regular conversations with others – are we listening to what other people saying or are we being rigid? How much of what the other person is saying could be a valid point? – It’s best to begin by appreciating that because it shows you have an open mind and have been listening.
It’s also very respectful.
3. If you believe that your point of view has swayed after hearing people out or you’ve realised your argument may have been foolish, just smile and happily agree and even jokingly say “ugh! how silly of me!!” – this is something that’s worked very well for me.
Whenever I mess up on minor issues or misunderstand something, I happily acknowledge my silliness. I’ve seen this change the other person’s reaction and tone of voice – people seem to calm down and are so much politer in their response.
4. Now when you mess up larger issues, which may not happen very often, we’re now better equipped at handling it because we’ve slowly changed our pattern of thought from going defensive and hiding the truth to being pro-active, saying sorry and looking to sort out the problem.
The idea is to make admitting your mistakes a part of who you are – someone who doesn’t carry unnecessary load and looks to learn from it in the hope to not repeat them again.
So years ago… I heard a quote somewhere – “lessons are repeated until they’re learnt” and it’s true – it’s only when you begin to learn – just like quote says – will you be able to get out of the vicious pattern of making repetitive mistakes.
Also, never apologise if you don’t mean it – people will see through you and don’t apologise if you don’t know what you did wrong.
Take time to understand what it was and figure it out.
This is where introspection is key and the best tool you have in improving the person you are, which then improves your personal and professional relationships as well.
Before I sign off for this podcast… when you start being truthful to yourself and others, when you start acknowledging others and their point of view you don’t fear being wrong anymore, you do lose a lot of your ego turning you into someone who is receptive and enriched.
That’s it people! I end today’s podcast here – if you would like to get in touch with me to share your thoughts and point of view or even topic suggestions, then please message me on Instagram – my Instagram is Footprints, No Boundaries or through email, my email address is [email protected].
Have a good one everybody! B-byeee!!”
Some Relevant Reading:
- My Night-Time Routine While Having a Chronic Illness
- Podcast Ep 4 – Are Our Problems Really Our Own?
- 11+ Things All Girls Should Know
- Yoga for Period Pain & Endometriosis – Does It Work?
I’d love to know what you thought of today’s podcast. Please do share your thoughts in the comments section below…
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Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I am a patient and have created this platform to share my experiences. This is all purely informative and in no way am I providing medical advice. Please consult a medical professional.
