There are a couple of reasons why people lie and at times you would want to put the lies behind you and come clean
This would come in an instance where you are being apologetic to someone and no one suspects you know the truth or you had previously told a lie and you want to tell the truth
Below we give you steps you can follow on how you can tell the truth after you have lied to someone;
Table of Contents
1. Accepting the mistake
The first step would be accepting what you did was wrong and making up your mind to tell the truth. Don’t make the mistake of lying to cover up another lie. Tell the whole truth
You have to accept you did something bad by lying and you are willing to make things right by telling the truth
2. Decide who tell the truth
Who you are telling the truth will matter . It should be relevant to them in one way or another
Some times you cannot tell the actual victim because they will not take it lightly so you could tell someone whom they would be willing to listen to if you think it will make the apology successful
In other instances you have to tell a person themselves and not involve third parties, so you will have to be the judge of this and choose what option would best resolve the situation
3. Time and place when to tell the truth
Timing and place are very important otherwise telling the truth at the wrong time and place might make it worse
You have to get a suitable time but the best time is before your lies make a situation any worse and leading to worse consequences
The best time would be sooner before a situation gets worse as lies would be circulating faster than the truth and saying the truth later would not solve anything
4. Provide a good reason for telling the truth
Why are you telling them? It would very good to let the person know why all of a sudden you are telling the truth
Would you believe or trust a thief that returns your car or t.v set and apologizes to you?
You will definitely get a feeling there is a negative catch behind the action and that’s why you should provide a satisfactory reason for your apology
5. Tell the person what you expect from them after telling the truth
Let the person know what you want them to do after hearing the truth say forgive you
One of the reasons could be you want them to forgive you especially after they have found out that you are lying to them or because you want to end the consequences of your lies
If your lies ended the relationship you would tell the truth because you want to fix that
6. Tell the person what to expect from you
Let the person know how you are willing to make it up to them after letting them know the truth and how it could benefit them
Maybe you could change your behavior or compensate them accordingly where possible say they lost tons of money you would be willing to financially back them up
7. Expect a good or bad reaction
You should know that your apology or truth may be accepted or rejected but if you have followed the above steps then you have done the best you could. You could also be punished based on what you did after the truth is known
If you scammed or took a bribe, you will be punished for that but in most cases when you accept wrongdoing the punishments are less severe than when you keep denying or lying and later you are found out
8. Do as you say.
Your words should match your actions when forgiven. The best way to get your apology accepted is through actions
It does not make sense if you apologize and then continue telling lies
In fact, the best way to apologize for telling lies and build your reputation and trust back is through actions as they will get noticed with time
Conclusion
The above steps put you in position to start telling the truth from then onwards and leave your lying days behind you
