Respect yourself enough to admit when your behavior needs correction.

Being able to look straight at your own bad behaviour requires a stable sense of your worth, not a fragile one. If you secretly suspect that one fault would prove you worthless, you will defend everything, including the parts that need to change. People who can say plainly that they were wrong are usually the ones who are not afraid the admission will consume them.

Take something you have been half defending and let yourself see it clearly, without turning it into a verdict about your character. Correct the behaviour, apologise if someone was affected, and move on without the extended self-punishment. The self-punishment often looks like accountability while doing none of its work.