Little. Yellow. Different.

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Little. Yellow. Different.
3 Hard Lessons From Replacing "Sorry" With "Thank You"

3 Hard Lessons From Replacing "Sorry" With "Thank You"

Ernie Hsiung
Jun 05, 2025
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Little. Yellow. Different.
Little. Yellow. Different.
3 Hard Lessons From Replacing "Sorry" With "Thank You"
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Seriously, you should see some of the other contenders that were going to be the main image instead of this one.

Last month, I tracked every single “sorry” that came out of my mouth for two weeks straight. The final tally? 127 apologies. That's roughly nine per day for things like existing in an elevator, asking a question in a meeting, or having the audacity to order food at a restaurant. (Apparently, I thought the server needed an apology for me wanting to eat. Real solid logic there.) By the end of those fourteen days, I decided to conduct an experiment: replace “sorry” with “thank you” whenever possible.

I’m sharing the three most counterintuitive lessons I learned from this simple language swap because it fundamentally changed how people respond to me (and how I see myself). What I learned wasn’t some bullshit about loving yourself more or finding your inner goddess. Think: more practical stuff about rewiring decades of conditioning that runs so deep I didn't even know it was there.

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