After many years as a newspaper reporter, I tend to see things through a journalistic lens.
It’s probably why I am so passionate about product reviews. I don’t want people to be taken advantage of by the celebrity endorsements, clever advertisements and company propaganda of a product. I want to investigate and report the facts of something being introduced to the keto community, so folks can make the best decisions for their personal health journey and family wallet.
I guess that’s the Lois Lane in me. (Does that make Joe Clark Kent/Superman?!)
Every now and then, a newspaper I worked for would be forced to print a retraction. They had published an article with wrong dates, wrong quotes, or some other wrong information. Basically, they had made a mistake. And, by printing a retraction article, they were attempting to admit their error. It’s not a pleasant experience to admit you blew it. But, a newspaper with enough integrity to admit their mistakes actually tended to gain trust from their audience. Readers, it turns out, don’t expect you to never make a mistake. They just expect you to be honest about it when you do.
That being said, when newspapers print a retraction, they don’t put it on the front page. You are never going to see an above-the-fold headline on the cover of the Washington Post that reads: “We Totally Dropped The Ball.”
Of course, critics would sometimes write letters-to-the-editor complaining, “Hey, you buried the headline! You should have given more prominence to your mistake.”
It didn’t change company policy, though.
Newspaper victories get the front page. Newspaper defeats get buried below the obituaries.
Unfortunately, I haven’t adopted the newspaper policy on my keto journey.
When I make a mistake, (i.e. eat off-plan, leave my meal window hanging wide open, snack between meals, don’t drink enough water, drink too much coffee or indulge in too many keto treats), it takes front page of my day. I feel tremendously guilty. I may have a great victory to celebrate as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend or employee…but I don’t. I don’t celebrate.
Instead, I tend to focus on the mistake and it really becomes “breaking” news: breaking my heart, breaking my confidence, and breaking my forward momentum. Maybe you struggle with the same problem.
