Confess on Monday and it’s a mistake. Get caught on Friday and it’s a character issue.

The clock changes how an act gets read. Coming forward early is filed as an error, because you still had the option to hide and did not use it, while the same facts discovered later read as concealment, which is a statement about who you are rather than what you did. The content never changes. Timing alone decides which category people put it in.

When you are weighing whether to say something, remember you are choosing between two very different verdicts. Take the early one, before you have arranged your explanation. Going first is much cheaper than the alternative.