"Enjoy Being Wrong" (FTM Rapid Reaction Series)

[upbeat music] Enjoy Being Wrong by Gideon Honeycutt.

Author's note.

This brief essay is different than most.

It's not strictly related to our industry, but rather a reflection on life more broadly.

That said, I believe it's deeply applicable to what we do.

The inspiration for this article came from a realization I had a few weeks ago.

I'd been completely wrong about an opinion relating to our industry, an opinion I would have vehemently defended not long ago, and yet that realization felt like a breath of fresh air.

I hope that as you read this, you'll begin to find the same sense of freedom and even joy in being wrong.

Trading illusion for clarity.

I've always been confused by people who take an offense of being wrong.

The reaction shows up in different forms.

Sometimes it's embarrassment, an internal wince at having missed something.

Sometimes it's anger, directed at whoever exposed the flaw.

Sometimes it's envy, resentment toward those who got it right.

And sometimes it takes more dangerous shapes: denial of reality, endless argumentation to defend a crumbling position, or a quiet detachment from truth itself as the mind scrambles to preserve ego over accuracy.

I've never understood it, because I've always found a strange kind of satisfaction in being wrong.

That doesn't mean I surrender my position lightly.

Quite the opposite.

I'll argue, test, defend, and pressure my own beliefs from every angle.

I'll push them as far as they can go.

But when a position finally collapses, when it can no longer be honestly defended, I don't feel defeated.

I feel relieved, because in that moment, I've traded illusion for clarity, and that's a trade worth celebrating.

Being wrong doesn't make you foolish.

Refusing to be wrong does.

No one is always right.