mend one's ways
Change for good
To mend one's ways is to reform, to abandon bad habits or improper behavior and adopt better ones.
The phrase implies acknowledgment of past wrongdoing and commitment to change: After his arrest, he promised to mend his ways.
Often used skeptically about whether such reform will actually occur.
- apologyStatement acknowledging wrongdoing
- repentanceRemorseful rejection of past wrongs
- turn over a new leafCommit to personal change
- stepFoot movement forward
- self-reflectionExamining one's own mind
self-discipline · integrity · redemption · transformation · personal growth · honesty · accountability · conscience · forgiveness · habit formation · reconciliation · own up to · second chance · trust-building · virtue · straight and narrow · clean slate · fresh start
mend one's waysstay the course
Continue despite difficulties
backslide · relapse · fall off the wagon · double down · go from bad to worse
mend one's waysgo astray
Veer from course
fall from grace · stray from the path · go off the rails · lose one's way · backslide