We’ve all been in a place where that feeling of guilt in your stomach instantly takes over after making what feels like the biggest mistake in the world. Some of us even can think of several instances wherein this has occurred. Well, I just want to take a minute to say #IFeelYa.
As a blogger in her last semester at school, I keep striving to move forward with my business to ensure that by the time I graduate, my business will be fully set in motion so that I can validate that I’m “freelancing” while my other friends have jobs at places like PwC, Deloitte, and KPMG (yes, I go to a business school). But in this rush to move forward, I’ve made some blunders. I recently started reaching out to brands that I’ve been advocating for a ton on my blog to let them know that I have been doing so, and I was so proud of myself after I finished the outreach that I treated myself to a chocolate and admired the last email I had written.
And then, my stomach tightened and my jaw literally dropped–on that very last email, I had sent a link to the impressions I had garnered for a competing brand by mistake. Quickly, I dropped my chocolate, and hit the reply button, drafting what seemed like 10 emails before I could find the words to explain and justify my mistake.
After I finally somehow found words to express my sorrow and that it was a genuine mistake, though, I strangely felt just fine. I didn’t feel like it was the worst thing in the world anymore, and here’s why:
I put myself in the other person’s shoes, and realized that if I had gotten that email, I probably would’ve laughed for a split second, then gone on to respond politely anyways, especially after hearing a heartfelt sorry.
Remembering that we are all human, and that we do indeed make mistakes is so important in business and in life. Instead of trying to push away your mistakes, embrace them, and remember that no mistake is too big or too small to apologize for–don’t try to cover it up or justify it, just say sorry.
I remember telling this very story to a friend, and having her reply back to me: “Oh MY GOSH. How do you even recover from something like that? Yikes, that’s rough.” To her I said, “It’s no biggie; if they really had an issue with it, then maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. I just keep telling myself that life’s always a little bit of bad and a little bit of good, and you’ve got to learn how to learn to make good with the bad.”
So, if you’re reading this remembering a mistake that you made that you have yet to apologize for, I encourage you to do it, and do it wholeheartedly. I promise you, you’ll feel more complete inside, and that putting yourself in the other person’s shoes will be conviction enough to have you do it and get you through it.
XOXO,
-MS
