Be honest, be serious, be remorseful.

You were dumb, and got seduced by a power fantasy. You were unnecessarily rude on your way out the door. You deliberately did things to burn that bridge, and now you're hoping to unburn it. At this point, your old boss (if he's still in the old position, if he has a position open) is going to have to ask himself if you're really worth it. He probably has some personal feelings about how it all went down, and how you treated him, at a time when he was both completely correct and trying to help you. There's also a very real risk that, having gone off to do the dumb thing once, you'll do it again later, and leave him in the lurch again.

Your best bet for handling that (it's not at all guaranteed, but it might work) is to accept that you screwed up. Admit that you screwed up. Apologize for how you treated him, and try to make it clear that you have learned a very painful lesson. Make sure that you have, in fact, learned that lesson.

Basically, people work on narratives. "The repentant prodigal son returns" is one such narrative, and one where he can (if he has the opening) decide to hire you back and feel good about it. If you come to him pretending to be successful, though, he'll have no direct reason to think that you need or want his help (you certainly didn't want it before) and if he figures it out (not hard, given the circumstances) he'll be much, much less inclined to give it to you, for a number of reasons. The narratives for "prodigal son comes back a failure, trying to pretend that he was actually a success" go a lot worse for you.

Essentially, it's time to eat crow, and learn (and express) some humility. Even if he doesn't hire you, it'll be good practice. From the sounds of things, you could use the practice.

Be honest, be serious, be remorseful.

You were dumb, and got seduced by a power fantasy. You were unnecessarily rude on your way out the door. You deliberately did things to burn that bridge, and now you're hoping to unburn it. At this point, your old boss (if he's still in the old position, if he has a position open) is going to have to ask himself if you're really worth it. He probably has some personal feelings about how it all went down, and how you treated him, at a time when he was both completely correct and trying to help you. There's also a very real risk that, having gone off to do the dumb thing once, you'll do it again later, and leave him in the lurch again.

Your best bet for handling that (it's not at all guaranteed, but it might work) is to accept that you screwed up. Admit that you screwed up. Apologize for how you treated him, and try to make it clear that you have learned a very painful lesson. Make sure that you have, in fact, learned that lesson.

Basically, people work on narratives. "The repentant prodigal son returns" is one such narrative, and one where he can (if he has the opening) decide to hire you back and feel good about it. If you come to him pretending to be successful, though, he'll have no direct reason to think that you need or want his help (you certainly didn't want it before) and if he figures it out (not hard, given the circumstances) he'll be much, much less inclined to give it to you, for a number of reasons. The narratives for "prodigal son comes back a failure, trying to pretend that he was actually a success" go a lot worse for you.

Essentially, it's time to eat crow, and learn (and express) some humility. Even if he doesn't hire you, it'll be good practice. From the sounds of things, you could use the practice. Useful phrases include things like "You were totally right.", "I'm really sorry.", "I should have listened to you." and "I screwed up."

Be honest, be serious, be remorseful.

You were dumb, and got seduced by a power fantasy. You were unnecessarily rude on your way out the door. You deliberately did things to burn that bridge, and now you're hoping to unburn it. At this point, your old boss (if he's still in the old position, if he has a position open) is going to have to ask himself if you're really worth it. He probably has some personal feelings about how it all went down, and how you treated him, at a time when he was both completely correct and trying to help you. There's also a very real risk that, having gone off to do the dumb thing once, you'll do it again later, and leave him in the lurch again.

Your best bet for handling that (it's not at all guaranteed, but it might work) is to accept that you screwed up. Admit that you screwed up. Apologize for how you treated him, and try to make it clear that you have learned a very painful lesson. Make sure that you have, in fact, learned that lesson.

Basically, people work on narratives. "The repentant prodigal son returns" is one such narrative, and one where he can (if he has the opening) decide to hire you back and feel good about it. If you come to him pretending to be successful, though, he'll have no direct reason to think that you need or want his help (you certainly didn't want it before) and if he figures it out (not hard, given the circumstances) he'll be much, much less inclined to give it to you, for a number of reasons.

Essentially, it's time to eat crow, and learn (and express) some humility. Even if he doesn't hire you, it'll be good practice. From the sounds of things, you could use the practice.

Be honest, be serious, be remorseful.

You were dumb, and got seduced by a power fantasy. You were unnecessarily rude on your way out the door. You deliberately did things to burn that bridge, and now you're hoping to unburn it. At this point, your old boss (if he's still in the old position, if he has a position open) is going to have to ask himself if you're really worth it. He probably has some personal feelings about how it all went down, and how you treated him, at a time when he was both completely correct and trying to help you. There's also a very real risk that, having gone off to do the dumb thing once, you'll do it again later, and leave him in the lurch again.

Your best bet for handling that (it's not at all guaranteed, but it might work) is to accept that you screwed up. Admit that you screwed up. Apologize for how you treated him, and try to make it clear that you have learned a very painful lesson. Make sure that you have, in fact, learned that lesson.

Basically, people work on narratives. "The repentant prodigal son returns" is one such narrative, and one where he can (if he has the opening) decide to hire you back and feel good about it. If you come to him pretending to be successful, though, he'll have no direct reason to think that you need or want his help (you certainly didn't want it before) and if he figures it out (not hard, given the circumstances) he'll be much, much less inclined to give it to you, for a number of reasons. The narratives for "prodigal son comes back a failure, trying to pretend that he was actually a success" go a lot worse for you.

Essentially, it's time to eat crow, and learn (and express) some humility. Even if he doesn't hire you, it'll be good practice. From the sounds of things, you could use the practice.