If you were to die today, what would you regret?
The Merchant of Death read his obituary.
He saw his legacy written out before him, and it wasn't pretty.
It condemned him as a money-hungry, immoral man who had accumulated a fortune creating weapons that had caused destruction worldwide. It turns out that the newspaper had gotten it wrong, and his older brother had actually passed away. Still, the Merchant of Death was confronted with the singular opportunity of seeing his legacy spelled out before his eyes.
You might know him by a different name, Alfred Nobel.
He created the Nobel Prize, one of the most prestigious and lauded awards for contributions to bettering humanity.
This pivotal moment changed everything, and he dedicated the next eight years of his life to giving his money away and improving humanity before bequeathing 94% of his fortune to the creation of the Nobel Prize.
And it started with an emotion we all feel...
Regret
This is how best-selling author, Daniel Pink, begins his newest book, The Power of Regret.
I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Daniel Pink on my Success Engineering Podcast (S7E10) about his book and how it is essential to reframe how we view regret.
"Regret is one of the most common human emotions in the world." Daniel Pink
In the findings from the World Regret Survey (16,000 people in 105 countries), only 1% of respondents said they never look back on their life and wish they had done things differently.
Dan Pink uses the analogy of constructing a well-balanced, diversified investment portfolio about our emotions.
While we tend to gravitate toward pleasure and the positive emotions of love, joy, peace, and excitement, the negative emotions also have a healthy place in our portfolio.
Fear shields us from threats; disgust prevents us from consuming toxic substances, and regret can help us learn to grow and achieve our potential.
"No regret simply means no growth. And that's the most regretful choice of all." Daniel Pink
In my next post, I will outline the 4 Universal Sources of Regret, how they are photographic negatives of the 4 Universal Fundamental Needs of Human Beings, and Daniel Pink's Three Step Process for handling regret well.
I would love to hear your biggest regret if you are willing to share.
If you were to die today, what would you regret not doing?