It’s Okay To Be Wrong

Something to think about this weekend...

A few months ago, I created a Space-Creation Curriculum for the month of September. Within that curriculum, I designed a new 1-on-1 advantage drill intended to help athletes make a read and choose the footwork that would create space based on the defender’s response.

It was a fresh idea, and I was PUMPED to try it with two athletes that day.

The workout starts… we get to the competition drill… and after three or four reps, one thing was clear:

It wasn’t working.

I tried to make quick fixes on the fly:

• “Stand in a different position.”

• “Actually, try two steps further left?”

• “Okay, maybe just commit harder on defense!”

Both myself and my athletes were confused. They were making moves that would never translate in a real game. I was burning precious, limited workout time on something that wasn’t teaching them anything. And I knew it.

Bless them for trying to fight their way through it.

Cognitive Dissonance: The Real Villain

What I was experiencing in that moment is something we all deal with:

Cognitive dissonance.

It’s what happens when our self-concept in my case, “I’m a good teacher”, is threatened.

When we are wrong:

• It feels uncomfortable.

• Our brain wants to protect our ego.

• We make excuses.

• We justify mistakes.

• We double-down on bad choices.

• We point fingers instead of pausing.

Your mind will go to wild lengths to preserve your self-concept… even if it harms someone else.

Unpause.

The Seven-Minute Mistake (Coach Time Translation: 12 Days)

We spent another seven minutes on this drill. In coach-time, that’s about 12 days.

When the drill ended, we just moved on. No debrief. No correction. No lesson.

I knew it wasn’t working, and I kept going anyway.
I made the moment about me, not about them.
And that wasn’t fair.

If I could redo that moment, I wish I could tell you that I stopped the drill, owned the mistake, and pivoted to something better.

But I didn’t.

Cognitive dissonance won that round.

Because it sucks to be wrong.
And it felt easier to let them struggle and pretend it wasn’t my fault… because surely I’d worked too hard for it to be my fault, right?

Nah.

What I Learned

Imagine how much faster we would solve problems if we weren’t so worried about being right.
Inevitably, all of us will be wrong at some point.

And that’s okay.

The sooner we accept being wrong, the faster we move toward real progress.

If I had the chance to do that workout again, I’d much rather:

Be wrong.

Own it.
Fix it.
Move forward.

Shoot your shot.
(But also know when it was a bad one.)

See y’all next blog,
BriAnna