The power of regret

So often in life, we hear people talk about regrets they harbor and nurture — such as not spending enough time on things that matter, or perhaps they lament over career or financial mistakes they made in the past. This can turn into an unhealthy cycle of feeling and staying “stuck” in the regret and dismay over what has happened in one’s life. So, you may wonder, is there any value in feeling regret? Perhaps. Allow me to explain, as I’ve recently been challenging myself to use regret as a motivating factor.

Interestingly, when you have a streak of no regrets, you begin to forget what can happen if you do not maintain discipline; eventually, if you do not maintain discipline in a particular area, whether it’s exercising, studying, writing, or any path you are pursuing, you will eventually regret not having made appropriate progress. Once you finally get to that point of feeling regret, it’s important to acknowledge it. Don’t push it away or stay stuck in it. Instead, say and ask, “Okay, I feel regret about this. But what can I do about it going forward, so that in two or three months, I do not feel even more regret?” And then set up your associated action plan and do it .

If you are looking back at your 2022 goals and realizing you didn’t start or get as far along as you like, acknowledge it and set the plan to move forward, so that perhaps when you look back on the year in September, you may feel proud that you took corrective action and made some progress! My thoughts for today.