Tired of feeling regret? Try this strategy: Instead of framing a choice or decision you made in the past that didn’t work out as intended as “the wrong decision”, try looking at it as simply “a poor decision”. The difference may seem subtle, but the impact on how you feel is huge.
Abandoning the idea of “wrong decision” makes sense for two main reasons:
(1) When you frame a past decision as “wrong”, can you say with complete confidence that you know exactly what the “right” decision would have been? Factoring in both the immediate consequences and outcome of that “right” decision as well as the ripple effects compounded over the last x number of years all the way to today? Of course not. Well, when you cannot unequivocally spell out every single positive ripple effect of the decision you’re currently looking back on, then there was no actual “right” decision to make, was there? If there was no “right” choice then there could be no “wrong” one either, just a decision that didn’t work out as expected. Learn from it & move on.
(2) Your decision didn’t work out as you intended. Okay, was your reasoning for making that decision in the first place sound? If it was, then you didn’t make the “wrong” decision – it just didn’t work out; that’s Life. And if your reasoning for making that decision in the first place was not sound (e.g. emotional), then it was simply a poor decision i.e. one based on a faulty premise &/or incorrect information; learn and be smarter the next time.
Look, making decisions that don’t always work out as we’d like is just part of the human experience. But you always have the opportunity to learn from it so you don’t repeat your mistakes! This is called “Lesson Learned”, and it’s the most powerful way to avoid regret in the first place, and even erase any regrets that may be lingering in your mind.
Purge your mind of regret, remember the lesson and not the fear, and live strong!