How To Overcome Embarrassment from a Choice You’ve Made

Last month I was in Kyoto, Japan (beautiful by the way), eating at a sushi restaurant when it happened. I picked up my bowl of miso soup, sipped it politely, then immediately gasped because I’d just gulped down soy sauce. (In my defense, it was a dark restaurant and the bowl was dark colored, so you couldn’t see the color of the liquid.) That’s right, I drank soy sauce! My face turned red and embarrassment set in. I was already experiencing culture shock and jet lag from arriving in Asia, and my inner critic started to criticize me and say, “You can’t do anything right. You are such a bad traveler. Anyone would know that wasn’t soup.” Needless to say, I felt like a big loser.

At this point in my life, I was already second-guessing my trip to Japan. I’ve been traveling for almost five months straight and was feeling like maybe trying to squeeze so many countries into my adventure was a mistake. I was embarrassed and starting to regret specific choices I had made. We all have choices we make, whether it is small situation—ahem, my soy sauce incident—or a bigger, life-altering choice like relocating, changing careers, getting involved romantically with a new partner, and sometimes these choices don’t pan out the way we hoped.

If you are embarrassed by a choice you’ve made, today’s video will help. I share simple steps to help you get over embarrassment so you can pick yourself up and focus on moving forward with more happiness and ease.

Watch Video: 3 Powerful Ways to Overcome Embarrassment from a Choice You’ve Made

1. It was what you wanted at the time.

Every choice we make is ultimately giving us more clarity. Sometimes after we make the choice, we grow and learn more about ourselves … and then we sometimes feel like we made the wrong choice. But remember, it was never a wrong choice because it was what you thought was best at the time when you made the choice.

2. Identify who you’ve become.

All your choices are a collection of choices, and you can learn and grow from all of them. If you feel embarrassed by a recent decision you’ve made, focus your attention on the benefits that have come from that situation. Who have you become in the process of that choice? By identifying the strengths it gave, you can see the blessing in the lesson.

3. There are no mistakes.

Remember, there are no mistakes. Every choice you have made was the right choice at that specific time. If you don’t like the outcome, just make a new choice. What have you learned from a recent choice that turned out different than you planned? I’d love to hear from you below.

These tips are from my best-selling book Adventures for Your Soul.