Career Advice: How to Recover From Any Mistake | Greatist

No matter how you messed up, following this advice will help you earn forgiveness.

Susie, can I please have the report from last week? I don’t see it in my inbox.”

My heart sank. My boss was asking me for a sales report that I had to submit every Friday. It was Monday. I totally blanked on doing it last week.

I did the only thing I could think of: I lied. “That’s odd—it should be there. I’ll re-send!” In 15 minutes, I scrambled together the shoddiest report ever created and hit send as if my life depended on it. You can imagine the questions my boss had about the errors in the Excel cells later that day. He knew; I knew. But I was resolute in my lie.

I was young. I thought this approach was safer than honesty. But I was wrong. I had not only failed to do the work, but I was also dishonest about it—trying to cover my tracks instead of admitting my mistake.

No matter what you messed up, acknowledging your error can make you feel like a naughty kid again—not the confident adult you’ve become.

Trust me, I know there’s nothing like the sting of making a mistake to make you feel inadequate, remorseful, and just plain pissed at yourself. But we all make mistakes in many different ways. Maybe you laid into your S.O. over something insignificant, forgot to text a friend back about plans, or made a glaring typo in an uber-important work memo. No matter what you messed up, acknowledging your error or poor judgment can make you feel like a naughty kid again—not the confident adult you’ve become…

Finish reading: Career Advice: How to Recover From Any Mistake | Greatist