have no regrets later in life!!!

When people look back on their lives, what are common regrets they have?

 

The main sources of regret were, in order:

1. romance
2. family
3. education
4. career
5. finance
6. parenting
7. health
8. "other"
9. friends
10. spirituality
11. community
12. leisure
13. self

They also looked at differences between sexes:

Women, who tend to value social relationships more than men, have more regrets of love (romance, family) compared to men. Conversely, men were more likely to have work-related (career, education) regrets. Those who lack either higher education or a romantic relationship hold the most regrets in precisely these areas.

Americans with high levels of education had the most career-related regrets. Apparently, the more education obtained, the more acute may be the sensitivity to aspiration and fulfillment. Moreover, the youngest and least-educated people in our sample, who most likely possess the greatest capability of fixing their regrets, were indeed the most likely to provide fixable regrets.

other important things people regret are:



Not starting earlier
This is pretty pointless because it's better late than never, but this is the biggest regret most people have. Whenever someone stumbles upon a realization, makes important changes in their life or does something to improve the quality of their life, it's interesting how quickly regret overshadows accomplishment!
The thought process of "If I would have started five years ago, I would have accomplished so much by now" has the power to ruin even the best of decisions.

Doing great things for the wrong people
Of course we had no way of knowing those people better in the past but when you get to know people and choose to move on, in hindsight, it just gets easier to be hard on your past self for not knowing better.

Underestimating your self and over estimating your goals
All of us have a habit of putting away even the smallest of goals for that one magical day when we'll be in a better position, the perfect circumstances, all the required resources at our disposal and the right opportunities presented. The thing about perusing these goals is, you regret over estimating them so much and being afraid of them in the past but then again climbing a mountain looks like a cake walk only when you get to enjoy the view from the top.

But always remember how scary it was when you started out.

Not being spontaneous enough or setting way too many limitations
This is yet another regret point that most people love, but the thing is, it is never too late to open yourself to experiences.

Past mistakes and failures: A lot of people believe in putting these behind them in a black box, never looking back at them or revisiting these only for regret.
"Why do you talk so frequently as so objectively about the things you are supposed to regret?" is a question that is thrown at me too frequently.

The answer is, I don't believe in wasting my time entertaining regrets. Everything about my past, my mistakes, my fears, my failures, my limitations, my heartbreaks, my issues, my shortcomings, the bad habits I gave into, my destructive patterns, my toxic friendships and the phases of my life when I was spinning out of control or when I was drowning in darkness shaped the person I am today. I would be someone else if not for them and the only thing that comes naturally to me now is to break all of them down, to analyse every aspect of my past, to find my patterns and to learn from them, for the future.
This is the only way, I feel one can completely move on from the ghosts of their past, by honestly confronting it, by understanding it and accepting it as a part of your life. That is why I don't regret the alleged mistakes that I have made and that is why I feel extremely comfortable talking about them, even though it makes a lot of people uncomfortable.

Embrace everything about your past, even the ugliest of it because regret feeds on fear and denial.