Do you have regrets? You might be one of those people with no regrets. But if you have regrets, do some inner (and maybe outer) work so you can live life with no regrets.

Regrets Survey

At World Regret Survey if you take 3 minutes anonymously providing your biggest life regret(s), you can browse different countries and U.S. states to see what other people currently regretting. In Florida, at 45-year-old female regrets taking the usual path and not risking more. Not taking the trip back in school because she was too responsible. Another Florida woman, age 44, regrets not focusing more on school when she was a teenager or paying more attention to her long-term career goals. In Michigan, 52-year-old female regret being so afraid to fail as a young person that she did not take more chances, while a 46 year old female regrets that socializing/partying was more important than self-development and education which led to spending less time with her son when he was young.

International regrets are not so different. In Spain, a 49-year-old regrets not selling their stock when the market was at its peak while a female, age 55 regrets not divorcing sooner. In Swedan, a 45-year-old women regrets “not spending more time with my children”. I Brazil a 68-year-old woman regrets having worked 17 hours a day for ten years. A 33-year-old man in Japan says: “I wished I didn’t worry about what other people think. I still struggle with this.”

Tour the site and take the quiz. It’s interesting to see the different regrets, some of which may resonate as they did with me.

The Top Five Regrets of the Dying

There is a common theme. Research by Bronnie Ware in her memoirs discusses The Top Five Regrets of the Dying – A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing. They are:

  1. “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
  2. “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
  3. “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
  4. “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
  5. “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”

You can read more about these at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Top_Five_Regrets_of_the_Dying.

Regrets and Money

What if you could focus your money on living your best life? Where would you spend your time and money? A budget analysis might bring awareness that you are spending your time and money on things that don’t make you happy. You may wish to visit your best friend from high school and jam for an hour, but your stuck work 10 hour days to pay off debt. You may wish to see that big hole in the ground out west, but you’re too busy doing what others want you to do.

Takeaway

Whatever your regrets are, living a peaceful life is more about asking questions than having the answers. When you ask the right question, you can seek the right answer. If your money is organized you can focus it on living without these regrets. This might lead to real peace of mind. But it all starts by asking yourself what are my regrets?

Rich Feight, CFP
Rich Feight, CFP

Hi, I'm Rich Feight I'm a fee-only Certified Financial Planner, successful business owner, and self-made millionaire that knows how to beat the system and become wealthy. I have a lot of clients that have done it too. I'm also pretty good at finding that ever-elusive work/life balance so many of us strive for. Lucky for you I have an abundant mindset and give all my knowledge away on my blog. So if you want to know what it takes to become a millionaire, follow me.