Words lose their meaning. Like âI love you,â when you throw out âsorryâ or âthanksâ all the time, it stops meaning much. I even caught myself exaggeratingââIâm truly sorryâ âIâm very, very sorryââjust to sound sincere. But really, why would I need to stack adjectives just to make words mean what they already should?
Accidentally taking the blame Once, a coworkerâs project failed. I said âsorryâ just to show empathy⊠and my boss assumed I was admitting guilt. I wasnât even responsible for that project! Turns out, automatic apologies can quietly hand over blame you donât deserve.
How you're seen by others To others, constant âsorrysâ can sound insecure. Whether you mean to or not, it seems to tell people: I think Iâm in the way, I must have done something wrong. Actually, I think Iâm not insecure at all, or well maybe a bit. But thatâs not the image I want to share with others!
Breaking the habit This is a habit Iâm not the only one noticing, people around me often point out how much I say âsorry,â and honestly, it must be uncomfortable for them too.
It sounds easy to just replace sorrys with silence, but itâs not easy at all. But what Iâve found a bit easier is to replace sorrys with something else. My family has a running joke: every time I say an unnecessary sorry, I supposedly owe them 10 push ups (a punishment Iâve never done, so itâs not exactly working). But seriously, Iâm making an effort to break the âIâm sorryâ habit by:
- Swapping small, automatic sorrys for quick sounds like âoopsâ, that acknowledge the moment without actually apologizing.
- Replacing sorrys with thanks, and making those thanks specific instead of generic. For example, instead of âsorry Iâm late,â I'm trying to say âthanks for waiting.â This one is a great tip that learned from Colbyâs newsletter 1% better
Itâs not easy, but it already feels better than living stuck in a loop of meaningless apologies. If you find yourself in a similar situation and got some tips please share them with me! And if you try these ones please tell me if they worked for you too!
I hope you liked this post, and if you didnât, sorry not sorry.
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