How to avoid decision remorse

Decision remorse is like buyer’s remorse. It’s when you regret a decision the way you might regret buying a sweater you don’t need.

Yet unlike shopping, with important decisions in life—who to partner with, how to make money, where to live—the fear of making a decision you’ll regret can be more powerful than the regret itself.

When you make a decision that doesn’t pan out the way you hoped it would, there’s still learning there. You’re not in the same place you were when you started.

When you stay in the same place because you’re scared you’ll regret your decision, you’re living on the fence—caught between the person you are and the person you want to become.

This is no way to live.

So, I have a powerful strategy for hopping over the fence and into a life of action—and never regretting another decision.

Here it is:

Decide to not regret your decisions.

How annoyingly obvious and simplistic is that?

Before you dismiss it, I invite you to consider it.

You can actually do this.

You can make a decision—a true decision—to not regret the decisions you make in life.

When faced with a decision, allow yourself a set amount of time to ponder your options.

Give yourself a deadline on this!

Most of us spend way too much time keeping our options open.

When your deadline arrives, make your decision and—here’s the key—trust you made the best choice available to you, given the information and thoughts you had at the time.

If you can do that, it’s impossible to regret your decisions. There’s nothing to regret because you did your best given the information and thoughts you had at the time.

Every decision you make leads to more information and new thoughts. There’s always learning and therefore growth.

Just the act of making a decision moves you into a new state of being—which is always better than riding that uncomfortable fence.

You’re ready. Decide.