Do you ever wish you could go back in time and give advice to your younger self?

In court last week, a judge asked me a question. I began my response with, “Honestly Judge. . .” Before I could get the rest of my response out the judge stopped me, laughed and said, “If I could get some honesty in my courtroom that would be so refreshing.” We both shared a laugh and moved on.

That exchange immediately brought me back to back to a similar incident that occurred to me when I was a young attorney during one of my first solo court appearances. A judge asked me a question and I began my response with, “To be honest with you Judge,” That judge cut me off right there and began berating me. His response was, “Why would you tell me that you are being honest with me? Am I to assume that there are times that you are not honest with me? Are you not an honest person?”

That altercation shook me to my core. I held my own and got through that court appearance. But I ran back to the office and closed my door and cried. I never told anyone in my firm what happened in court that day. For years, I never used the word, “honest” in response to a judge.

If I could go back in time and give advice to my younger self it would be to tell myself that you did nothing wrong. I would remind my younger self that judges are just people. Most importantly, you should be proud of yourself that you took the hit, kept standing, and didn’t let it stop you from moving forward with what you had to do.

What advice would you give your younger self?