Daniel Pink

So thinking that whites would have different regrets from people of color, people with lots of formal education would have different regrets from people with less education, men would have different regrets from women, blah, blah, blah. There were very few demographic differences. I was kind of shocked by that. But the one had to do with age, and it's this.

People in their 20s tended to have equal numbers of regrets of action and inaction, equal numbers of regrets about what they did and regrets about what they didn't do. But by the time you hit basically your late 20s and certainly into your 30s and 40s and 50s and beyond, it's not even close. By the time you get literally to your late 20s, the inaction regrets take over.

People in their 20s tended to have equal numbers of regrets of action and inaction, equal numbers of regrets about what they did and regrets about what they didn't do. But by the time you hit basically your late 20s and certainly into your 30s and 40s and 50s and beyond, it's not even close. By the time you get literally to your late 20s, the inaction regrets take over.

People in their 20s tended to have equal numbers of regrets of action and inaction, equal numbers of regrets about what they did and regrets about what they didn't do. But by the time you hit basically your late 20s and certainly into your 30s and 40s and 50s and beyond, it's not even close. By the time you get literally to your late 20s, the inaction regrets take over.

People in their 20s tended to have equal numbers of regrets of action and inaction, equal numbers of regrets about what they did and regrets about what they didn't do. But by the time you hit basically your late 20s and certainly into your 30s and 40s and 50s and beyond, it's not even close. By the time you get literally to your late 20s, the inaction regrets take over.

People in their 20s tended to have equal numbers of regrets of action and inaction, equal numbers of regrets about what they did and regrets about what they didn't do. But by the time you hit basically your late 20s and certainly into your 30s and 40s and 50s and beyond, it's not even close. By the time you get literally to your late 20s, the inaction regrets take over.

When you get to my age, okay, and I'm basically like double the age of somebody in their mid to late 20s. When you get to my age, it's like three to one inaction regrets over action regrets. Overwhelmingly, over time, we regret what we didn't do. I regret that I didn't reach out. I regret that I didn't start that business. I regret that I didn't tell that person that I loved them.

When you get to my age, okay, and I'm basically like double the age of somebody in their mid to late 20s. When you get to my age, it's like three to one inaction regrets over action regrets. Overwhelmingly, over time, we regret what we didn't do. I regret that I didn't reach out. I regret that I didn't start that business. I regret that I didn't tell that person that I loved them.

When you get to my age, okay, and I'm basically like double the age of somebody in their mid to late 20s. When you get to my age, it's like three to one inaction regrets over action regrets. Overwhelmingly, over time, we regret what we didn't do. I regret that I didn't reach out. I regret that I didn't start that business. I regret that I didn't tell that person that I loved them.

When you get to my age, okay, and I'm basically like double the age of somebody in their mid to late 20s. When you get to my age, it's like three to one inaction regrets over action regrets. Overwhelmingly, over time, we regret what we didn't do. I regret that I didn't reach out. I regret that I didn't start that business. I regret that I didn't tell that person that I loved them.

When you get to my age, okay, and I'm basically like double the age of somebody in their mid to late 20s. When you get to my age, it's like three to one inaction regrets over action regrets. Overwhelmingly, over time, we regret what we didn't do. I regret that I didn't reach out. I regret that I didn't start that business. I regret that I didn't tell that person that I loved them.

Okay. Really important. I'll give you a little bit of insight in how the sausage is made.

Okay. Really important. I'll give you a little bit of insight in how the sausage is made.

Okay. Really important. I'll give you a little bit of insight in how the sausage is made.

Okay. Really important. I'll give you a little bit of insight in how the sausage is made.

Okay. Really important. I'll give you a little bit of insight in how the sausage is made.

So at one point I had a chapter called the rules of regret, where I was going to say, here's how regret works. Like we're basically pull up the hood. These are the rules of regret. This is how regret works. Okay. And I was like, okay, should there be five rules or seven rules or whatever? So I had this like these giant bulging folders of research and I was like, okay, I'm going to crack the code.

So at one point I had a chapter called the rules of regret, where I was going to say, here's how regret works. Like we're basically pull up the hood. These are the rules of regret. This is how regret works. Okay. And I was like, okay, should there be five rules or seven rules or whatever? So I had this like these giant bulging folders of research and I was like, okay, I'm going to crack the code.

So at one point I had a chapter called the rules of regret, where I was going to say, here's how regret works. Like we're basically pull up the hood. These are the rules of regret. This is how regret works. Okay. And I was like, okay, should there be five rules or seven rules or whatever? So I had this like these giant bulging folders of research and I was like, okay, I'm going to crack the code.

So at one point I had a chapter called the rules of regret, where I was going to say, here's how regret works. Like we're basically pull up the hood. These are the rules of regret. This is how regret works. Okay. And I was like, okay, should there be five rules or seven rules or whatever? So I had this like these giant bulging folders of research and I was like, okay, I'm going to crack the code.