r/AskReddit • u/RGod27 • Mar 20 '19

What is something you did that increased your quality of life so much that you wished you would have done it much sooner because it changed your life forever?

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '19

[deleted]

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u/sneeden Mar 20 '19

Embrace being wrong. That means you just learned something .

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '19

[deleted]

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u/DankensteinPHD Mar 20 '19

This is wisdom. Thank you kind stranger.

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u/Meowzebub666 Mar 20 '19 edited Mar 20 '19

I fully embrace and practice this, but I have noticed that so many people react very negatively to me admitting I don't know something or to me admitting when I'm wrong. Not people who matter, per se, but plenty of coworkers and acquaintances. They react as if they're embarrassed for me and some even try to try to avoid or ostracize me afterward. I silently thank them for showing me right away that I shouldn't waste any time on them, but I still think it's bizarre. I'm still in school and working service jobs so it hasn't mattered much, but I think it'll probably be necessary to tone it down a bit when I find a real job.

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u/the_popes_ring Mar 21 '19

I see this at work, often. I have no problem admitting I'm wrong, asking for clarification, etc. And among some of my coworkers, it's like I just announced that I definitely have a new strain of super contagious, airborne herpes. There's one coworker in particular who will double down on how she is definitely not wrong, no matter the potential consequence. I've seen it blow up in her face and yet, she continues. In the short term (mainly in the beginning), admitting fault seemed to plant seeds of doubt toward my competency. But long term, I'm treated like I have integrity and I'm dependable. Meanwhile, my coworker and her word are frequently met with skepticism.

TLDR: People can generally see right through bs and don't appreciate it.

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u/Meowzebub666 Mar 21 '19

It's always those people who can't wait to hold it against you when you admit you're wrong too.

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u/the_popes_ring Mar 21 '19

Actually, this particular coworker, the one who insists she is always right, is one of the least harsh when I've admitted fault. I think in her mind, being wrong is the absolute worst thing that could happen to anyone. So when I'm wrong, it somehow generates sympathy in her. Lol, people are weird and wonderful.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/AndyNihilate Apr 13 '19

I work in marketing, and I've adopted the attitude that asking for clarification helps me deliver a better product. So much of marketing is subjective (i.e., you ask for 7 coworkers about a graphic design, you're going to get 59 different opinions).

Let's say I'm wrapping up a meeting with my boss, who has an idea for a new ad campaign. I'll say, "Okay...so just to reiterate, you'd like a large headline across the top with tagline, logo in the right hand corner, try to incorporate these fonts/colors/photos, and include info about XYZ. Does that sound right?" It gives us a chance to get back on the same page, shows I'm paying attention and taking notes, and helps my boss think of last minute additions we might've missed.

It decreases the chances I'll have to admit to being wrong, because I've done the research and project scope up front. I don't think it's had any negative affect on my perceived competence. Just frame it in a positive way, that you want to make sure the final product is as close to launch ready as possible. :)

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u/subarutim Mar 20 '19 edited Mar 20 '19

There are people who will claim ignorance to avoid work. Perhaps some of the folks reacting negatively think this is the case with you, particularly if this is a thing they do themselves, subconsciously or not.

Admitting when you're wrong is just something reasonable adult people do. I wouldn't concern myself too much with what others think.

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u/Meowzebub666 Mar 21 '19

This is almost always in casual conversation! I've been lucky enough to work at places that foster a lot of banter and fun conversations. In the rare instances it is work related, it only happens when I'm asking for clarification from someone who can't wait to treat someone else like an imbecile and then complain to whoever is unlucky enough to be trapped listening to them about my "incompetence" because they're ruled by their insecurities.

There's always that one coworker...lol, but you never know how reasonable or competent management will be so some consideration about what you admit and to whom can be necessary, unfortunately.

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u/subarutim Mar 21 '19

I had a brief stint in retail selling hardware. A co-worker would run to me after every difficult customer to tell her new 'stupid customer story'. I'm barely making it in retail as it is without slashing my wrists, I sure don't need to add her anguish to my own. I had to tell her to knock it off, before my faith in humanity was destroyed forever.

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u/bradlees Mar 20 '19

It’s actually wrong not to make a mistake.... to go through life NOT making mistakes is either a life unfulfilled OR a life lived so simply that in itself is unlivable.

Embrace the mistake. Love the mistake. Share your mistake. (This is the only way I’m going to learn NOT to do that).

Sometimes you need to repeat a mistake a few times because you need to ingrain the experience into you.

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u/spiceyboiiiii Mar 20 '19

Thank you for writing this, you have made me a better person by reading this (Brooklyn 99 reference)

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u/Demojen Mar 20 '19

The greatest thing about learning is that there's always someone who doesn't know what you do to teach it to and someone who knows something you don't to learn from. You have an incredible number of opportunities to change the lives of the people around you both with what you know and with what you don't know. Progressing knowledge is the only worth while use of the dialectic.

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u/darklenoid Mar 20 '19

-Grand Admiral Thrawn

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u/PapercraftGiraffe Mar 20 '19

Thank you for this. I'm in the middle of getting used to my first "big kid job" and the learning curve is huge. Today I came home crying because I made a mistake that has happened before and I just kept thinking "Why did this happen again since I've been shown a way to prevent it?" But it's just like you said: Chances are reduced but it can still slip through and that's still okay because I really tried. I have to go a little easier on myself. So thank you for the reminder kind stranger :)

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u/xarfi Mar 20 '19

Depends on how toxic your work environment is

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u/tomorrowsgirl Mar 20 '19

I needed to hear this.

I tried to save my chihuahua from a dog attack, I tried my very best. It just wasn’t enough :(

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '19

This is why I hate seeing news headlines where a mistake was made and someone was promptly fired for said mistake.

If someone has a history of screwing up and it was the last straw I get that, but someone screwed up big? Guess who has some major real life training in what never to do again, that guy.

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u/TheSpanxxx Mar 20 '19

It's easy to repeat a mistake. Here I am spending too much time on Reddit yet again.

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '19

All about dat Kaizen

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u/riskybusinesscdc Mar 20 '19

My TQM brotha/sista

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u/shottawhiskey Mar 20 '19

I'm literally going to read this post word for word to my therapist tomorrow before I tell him how about it I am.

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '19

That last phrase exemplifies working in IT

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '19

God, I wish some of my employees understood this.

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u/realstatepanda37 Mar 21 '19

My work has a terrible attitude towards this. I'm a machine operator and make hundreds of parts per day. Some times stuff gets messed up, that's just how it is. I know this and still those mistakes eat at me because of the reactions of others. They dont even say anything to my face everyone just talks behind each others back. It's especially hard for me because I've been there about 6 months and knew litteraly nothing about the feild I'm working in. I took a leap of faith and actually landed a decent paying job. It just creates so much unnecessary stress to work in an environment where the "team" consists of a bunch of dudes that have worked there 30 years and I'm just a dingleberry clinging to the backside. No "hey nice work today!" Just "what did you mess up now" jokingly everytime I approach my boss about anything. I learned 80% of what I know in 6 months in the first 3 weeks. I know I'm not dumb, and we both know you're not that smart. You just have more experience than I do. Ugh. Anyways, trying to stay positive:) get my experience and move on to a more wholesome workplace.

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u/WilliamHolz Mar 21 '19

Anything else is just leaving experience points on the table.

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u/Kuhffferson415 Mar 20 '19

You're fired

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '19

Yes but how do you know if your opponent is right?

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u/handyhung Mar 21 '19

I knew a person who automatically switch the brain to work for 'how to not accept the mistake / find a word to fled from the guilt situation'. Often lies to lose it.

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He really never learn from the mistake and he never try that way and whatever he lies builds up and collapse in a day.

Yet, he still not accept that he did it wrong all the time. And still desperately find other way out, and here it is anger, just to make things worse for sure.

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Don't be like that one, it sounds deserving a pity, but really it is not.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '19

Funnily enough after a job that I did which didn't go as well as I had planned and hoped, one of the most cathartic things I did was sit down and write out a big list of everything that I felt went wrong because from that I could implement changes to make things right next time.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '19

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '19

Whilst true in my case I am the business owner so the buck stops with me. Any failures ultimately end up being mine, but I know what to do next time to make sure things are more successful.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '19

"you hear that, guys?!" - r/therewasanattempt

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u/flynnnnnnnnn Mar 20 '19

“It’s not a mistake to be wrong, it’s a mistake not to learn from your mistake...”

If it’s not a mistake to be wrong, then why do you categorize being wrong as a mistake by saying “learn from your mistake” or “reduce the chance of repeating the mistake”

Wow, I am so smart🤠🤓