When you sit across from clients day-to-day, you begin to notice the same handful of things coming up, session after session, client after client. Quite often it’s not the big dramatic decisions that people regret, but the quieter ones instead, whether that be the disagreement that never resolved, the opportunities that were missed or the argument they won but then lost the relationship in the process.
When you’ve seen these things time and time again, they can be a helpful guide to how we might want to carry ourselves going forward. So, here’s our list (ACT flavoured of course!) of things that we don’t believe you will ever regret doing in life.
1. Feeling the fear and doing the thing anyway
Waiting for the fear to leave first is like waiting for the pool to feel warm before you get in. It never feels warm from the edge. You just get in, cold and all, and swim anyway.
2. Actually being where you are instead of narrating it from three steps outside yourself.
You can watch the sunset or you can watch yourself watching the sunset for the photo. Only one of those is a memory.
3. Letting yourself want something embarrassingly badly
Values don’t need to be cool. Wanting to win the work trivia night counts.
4. Sitting with a feeling before reacting to it
Emotions are weather, not instructions. You don’t have to email HR because it’s raining.
5. Choosing the uncomfortable conversation over the comfortable resentment
Resentment is just anger that signed a long-term lease in your chest.
6. Doing the thing your values point to, even with zero motivation
Motivation is a fair-weather friend. Values show up even when motivation cancels plans last minute.
7. Noticing the inner critic and not promoting it to CEO
“Thanks for your input, intrusive thought” is a complete sentence.
8. Failing publicly at something that mattered
Nobody on their deathbed regrets the open mic that bombed. They regret never going up.
9. Letting go of being right when being right is costing you the relationship.
You can win the argument and lose the person. Ask which one you actually value more.
10. Doing one small values-aligned thing today instead of waiting to “feel ready”
Readiness is a myth told by people who’ve never actually felt ready either.
*Bonus unofficial 11th: Laughing at your own anxious brain mid-spiral. It’s annoying, but it means well (like when the smoke alarm goes off because you’re making toast).