You’ve heard a story like this: a grandpa got up every Saturday morning to visit the grave of his late wife, placing a flower on it. One day, as his granddaughter accompanied him, he said, “I wish I had given her a flower every Saturday when she was alive. She’d have liked that.”
We instantly feel that tug at our heart strings as we exclaim: I’m going to change my habits right now! We don’t want to experience the kind of regret the grandpa felt. Maybe we do make some changes, but we know we’re still susceptible to the regret of not doing enough.
This type of regret might be considered “unreasonable regret.” There will always be more that we can do and better decisions we can make. Yes, we are accountable for our decisions, but there is only so much regret that is reasonable for us to take on. So, today’s tip: develop a set of personal core values to make better life decisions.
Core values support your decisions and help guide your path so you live the kind of life you respect and admire. For instance, I have a core value of Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness. It doesn’t mean I don’t value money or that I don’t work. But, when I make life choices about time and money, I refer to my core value for guidance. I believe making deliberate decisions based on core values will help you avoid unreasonable regret.
Take a few moments to identify some of your core values and evaluate if your actions support them. Start making small decisions today that bring your life more in line with your core values. The more you do, the greater your confidence will be and the more inspired you’ll live.
Some articles for further reading
- https://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-loehr/how-to-live-with-purpose-_b_5187572.html
- https://taylorpearson.me/core-values-list/
- http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-core-values.html
Thank you for reading and feedback is welcome and encouraged.