My New Year’s resolution was to write on various topics. A topic a week seemed like a reasonable target. Turns out it is easier to generate ideas, but harder to execute. Since it’s a commitment that one deeply cares about, one can’t help but constantly think about doing it perfectly. I think, gradually, the perfectionism becomes the target, and the actual resolution takes the back seat. At least that’s what happens to me, losing the focus, which should have been becoming better, and not perfect. And yet again, while writing this article, I sidetracked into a philosophical argument about how perfection is an enemy of progress.
Coming back, I actually wanted to explore the idea of regret minimization, something I read about in the Jeff Bezos’s biography.
“I knew that when I was 80 I was not going to regret having tried this. I was not going to regret trying to participate in this thing called the Internet that, I thought, was going to be a really big deal.” – [Jeff Bezos’s interview on youtube](https://youtu.be/jwG_qR6XmDQ?si=WVvk3p94wpQR-llq)
It goes like this – think about the time when you will be older, looking back, what would be your biggest regret?
It’s a powerful idea that I always wanted to adopt. But, I, for one, have always struggled a bit to project myself too far into the future, and think back like this.
And then while writing the article about - “Why you should have a new year's resolution?”, I finally had a breakthrough. I don’t really need to project that far into the future, I simply need to look back from now, and think about - recurring regret - what is something that I, time and again felt like, could have done differently?
There’s another angle to the concept, whatever is recurring, but isn’t actually a regret, is either a behaviour flaw, or just tells you that you aren’t interested in the opportunity as much as you initially thought to be. If it’s not a regret, just scratch that item off the list, stop feeling guilty about not making the time for the activity.
Recurring regret has to be thought of as a miracle that you want to happen, which, according to you, would make your life a 10x better.
If you, like me, are unable to pinpoint exactly the things that you should be focusing on, try this idea. Killing any distractions, including the perfectionism, helps build the momentum. Building momentum in the right direction gets you to your goals. Reaching your goals helps you understand yourself. “Know Thyself”, is what makes you stand out from the crowd. Recurring regret – question that helps you pick the right direction.
Choose direction. Build momentum.
“Although for many years I lived hand to mouth—sometimes in semi-poverty—I have lived like a rich man ever since I started making films. Throughout my life I have been able to do what I truly love, which is more valuable than any cash you could throw at me. At a time when friends were establishing themselves by getting university degrees, going into business, building careers and buying houses, I was making films, investing everything back into my work.”
- Werner Herzog