Regrets

One of the major ways to waste time and not accomplish worthwhile things is by regretting things that have not been done. This is a favorite pasttime for many people. They look back at what they didn't do and they spend time regretting it. This causes a double loss. The first loss is the thing that was not done or that was lost or was not achieved properly or that was corrupted or that was killed or destroyed and then the regrets the time that is spent with regrets is in itself an additional waste which accomplishes nothing.

True, we do feel sorry when things don't go our way or when we feel that things should have been done another way or when we think that other people should have done things in other ways. However, to dwell on those issues or to discuss excessively is simply a waste of time and it does not promote the matter at hand.

It is best to limit the amount of time that is spent on regrets, limit the amount of time talking about things that did not get accomplished and to maximize the time spent in actually doing things, carrying them out, and getting things accomplished. When things are accomplished then people reverse the problem. The more that gets accomplished the less there is to regret in the long run. The sooner you get back to doing things that you had wasted your time regretting about the sooner that the problem is corrected and the issue is resolved and you can have a feeling of accomplishment rather than the feeling of regret.

Certainly, very little time should be spent regretting things that cannot be resolved at all. Once you have established that an issue cannot be resolved and cannot be fixed then certainly there is no reason to regret it. It should be put aside and you should get on with the things in your life that can be accomplished and do them with determination. When you determined what should be done and what shouldn't be done and you know what you really want to accomplish in life then you have to accept the fact that there will be certain setbacks. There are always setbacks with any project that is done. Those setbacks should be accepted without regrets perhaps even considered to be part of the general large project. When there's a setback just keep going and don't waste the time on regrets. Push yourself forward so that you can do what needs to be done.

This is one of the key factors that is known by people who are self starters. Self starters know that nobody is going to motivate them. They have to motivate themselves and they do that and they do it successfully. That is important also for you if you want to be able to accomplish your life's goals.

This article should be linked to GrossmanPsych/Priorities article on the benefits of prioritizing lists.