There’s no feeling quite as uncomfortable as the feeling of regret. Regret is being ashamed or upset with something you did or didn’t do, knowing that there’s no chance to go back and fix it now.
It’s very frustrating, and unfortunately, it’s just about everywhere. In a job sense, you might be filled with regret for not taking one certain job offer over another, knowing now that it’s much too late to change your mind.
Perhaps you wish you had majored in another subject back in college, but it’s too much work now to go back and get a different degree. You might also regret buying certain items that you soon realized you would never really use.
These feelings are very annoying, and can lead to a lot of unwanted stress. There are also many other minor feelings of regret, such as regretting sleeping in, regretting not eating breakfast, or regretting missing a meeting.
Little things like this can also pile up if you’re not careful. Sleeping in occasionally isn’t the worst thing in the world, but if it happens frequently in combination with other little mistakes, you’ll be putting your job on the line and become much more stressed.
In order to avoid having these feelings of regret, you need to get accustomed to making calculated, deliberate decisions. Learn to think about what it is you’re doing each time you make a decision, considering the alternatives as well as the consequences.
It seems tedious to have to really think about each decision you make, but soon you’ll get in a habit of doing it and it will seem natural. Once you get a good sense of your daily routine, knowing when to go to bed and when to wake up, you should only have to think hard about these decisions sometimes when something more important comes up.
You won’t be faced with important business deals or new job offers every day, but when you are, you need to make sure you’re not being impulsive with your decisions. If you’ve been appropriately assessing each situation and decision you make, you’ll find yourself being much happier and more likely to succeed.
Regrets hold you back like chains, leaving you stuck in the past while everything else moves on. Instead of wallowing around in what you should have done, think about what you should do from this point on – and then pursue it with everything you’ve got.
