Regret is an unavoidable aspect of the human condition. No matter how your life plays out, there will be situations that don’t go your way, things you wish you would have done, words left unspoken, etc.

We are also culturally conditioned to think of regret as a negative thing. We are reminded to always focus on the positive, push negative thoughts away from our memory and only focus on moving forward. But when used correctly, regret can play a pivotal role in our ability to move forward, to problem solve, and make informed decisions.

Daniel Pink has written seven books, five of which are New York Times bestsellers. He was a host and a co-executive producer of the 2014 National Geographic Channel social science TV series, "Crowd Control,” and from 1995 to 1997, he was the chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore. Today on the podcast, he joins me for a conversation about his most recent book, “The Power of Regret; How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.” 

Highlights from the conversation:

• The biggest regrets come from inaction, rather than trying something that didn’t ultimately work out.
• Discomfort can lead to clarification and growth.
• Regret can help make better decisions.
• Avoiding inherent biases

Enjoy!

--- Today's episode is brought to you by

CreativeLive. CreativeLive is the world's largest hub for online creative education in photo/video, art/design, music/audio, craft/maker and the ability to make a living in any of those disciplines. They are high quality, highly curated classes taught by the world’s top experts -- Pulitzer, Oscar, Grammy Award winners, New York Times best selling authors and the best entrepreneurs of our times.