In general, all of us mess-up more often than not. The simple thing to do when we mess-up would be to admit it and avoid further embarrassment. However, we are trained to avoid dealing with uncomfortable things so we come up with “smart” cop-outs.

Here are ten of them (feel free to add more in the comments section.)

10. When you don’t get good grades in exams, you are tempted to say, “I only studied in the last few days, otherwise…”

9. When you are not earning enough, you are tempted to say “Money is not that important anyway, otherwise…”

8. When you are going nowhere, you are tempted to say “I am still deciding on where I should be going, otherwise…”

7. When you fail in a relationship, you are tempted to say “It was for the best of both of us, really”

6. When you make a mistake, you are tempted to say “I understood the problem wrongly in the first place, otherwise…”

5. When you don’t know an answer for something, you are tempted to give an answer that will confuse the other person rather than admitting you don’t know.

4. When something goes wrong, your first reaction is to find who is the “best” person (or best situation) to blame.

3. You decide to not set concrete goals because you hate to have “future disappointments” in case those goals don’t materialize.

The next one I am guilty as charged (multiple offenses)

2. When you got something because of pure luck, you are tempted to take all the credit.

And, the crowning jewel is not even related to you. Here it is:

1. When your friend works hard and gets something (and you had the same opportunity, but you didn’t) you are tempted to say that he or she just got lucky.

Photo Credit: drami on flickr

Your turn: What are other “smart” cop-outs you have seen employed by yourself or others that are close to you?