Avoid the Regret of Not Doing
A colleague and I were recently talking about regret. Most people have regrets over what they didn’t do, rather than what they did do. It seems so common to have regrets, or to wish you had done something differently, but we were thinking from a different angle. When you take action on something, you have an outcome to reflect on, and make future decisions based on those results. But the regrets about what you didn’t do at all, lack the outcome for reflection. Whether this is in life, business, relationships, or finances, the lack of taking action just remains the regret of not doing something we should have.
Recently, my brother asked if he and I could spend some time together. As we sat in the beautiful setting of the college campus, we had a life changing conversation. He went through a list of memories from our childhood, and young adult years, that he felt he needed to apologize for. Some of the memories he shared were typical big brother picking on little brother stuff. Others were more deep and complex. After he finished going through these memories, he asked me how he could make amends for what had taken place. I responded by telling him the conversation alone was the amends. His honesty, not only strengthened our bond as brothers, it also made me wonder who I may need to make amends with in my life. Then, I began to think about who I needed to appreciate.
I’ve established a new routine at the beginning of each day. I write thank you cards. This starts my day with gratitude. I write to previous coaches, professors, people I met yesterday, or someone who put a video on You Tube that impacted me. I encourage you to think about what it is you are waiting to take action on. Have you put your health first? Have you been waiting to take that family vacation? Whatever it is – where can you take action and stop waiting. Ask yourself if you continue to wait, will you have regrets in 3 years, or even next year? Then decide how you can start taking action today to avoid the regret of not doing.
You can view the video this post was written from here https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=dr%20thaddeus%20g
