The importance of admitting when you are wrong

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The ability to admit when you are wrong is the first step to growing as a person. It's okay to make mistakes! No one is perfect and one should not be expected to know all the answers, especially at our age. Make mistakes, but make sure to grow from those mistakes.

When we go to college, we are expected to cross the bridge from teenager to adult. In the literal sense, we enter our 20s, but in doing so, we gain new skills to use in our adult lives. Whether these are the skills required by your major to get you a career or social skills learned through relationships with other people, now is the time to learn and grow. 

You cannot, however, learn and grow without making mistakes. While this concept is drilled into our heads as children, I've noticed that as we get older, we can lose the ability to recognize when we are wrong and react appropriately afterward.

So, why is it so important to admit when you are wrong, and what is the consequence of not apologizing to people when you make a mistake?

First and foremost, admit to the people around you that you are wrong about something— big or small —and show them that you care enough to make corrections. Treating people with respect means reflecting on your own actions and how you may have negatively impacted them. Imagine a time when someone you care about made you feel bad or messed up, negatively impacting your life. Did they apologize? How did that make you feel? 

The aftermath of a disagreement is typically what you remember most, sometimes even forgetting the initial conflict. Did you feel seen and cared for at the end of the day? This, of course, is the golden rule: treat others the way you would like to be treated. If you expect the people in your life to own up to their mistakes, you must match their energy.

Sometimes, you do not know enough about what you are talking about and can find yourself in a sticky situation. While there is a lot to be said about willful ignorance, if you truly gave it your all and got it wrong, it is best to admit this to yourself and the people around you. Instead of doubling down on a take you no longer agree with to protect your ego, take this as an opportunity to learn and grow.

I must emphasize that people will remember what's more important to you: your relationships or your ego. You have to remember that making mistakes is what makes you human. Mistakes do not define you as a person; what defines you is how you react afterward. 

Lastly, having the ability to own up to your faults and apologize can be incredibly rewarding. In my opinion, this is the best way to learn and grow socially and intellectually. It is wild to expect us all to succeed right off the bat when the reality is that you are most likely going to flop more times than you can count. This is all part of the process. You will feel much more rewarded if you struggled along the way than if you never had to work on it. 

Refusing to admit to yourself that you need to try and fail before you can succeed will rob you of the complete satisfaction you deserve. You cannot have success and confidence without humility, so be an adult and apologize!