Most business owners spend plenty of time thinking about goals, strategy, and growth. But we rarely stop to consider something equally valuable – regret.
Daniel Pink’s World Regret Survey identified four common categories of regret that appear across cultures and life experiences. Foundation, Boldness, Moral, and Connection. While the research focuses on life in general, the findings have direct relevance for business.
The question isn’t whether you’ll make mistakes. The question is whether you’ll learn from them before they become regrets.
Foundation Regrets – “I wish I’d done the work”
In business, foundation regrets often show up as things we knew we should have done but kept putting off. Poor systems. Inadequate processes. Ignoring cash flow. Delaying documentation. Failing to invest in learning.
These decisions rarely hurt immediately. The consequences build slowly over time until a small issue becomes a major problem. Common examples are inadequate start-up capital, waiting until in the past before reviewing financial performance, delaying professional development because it’s too busy, and not building processes while the business is still small.
Small, consistent actions create strong foundations. The work you avoid today often becomes tomorrow’s headache. Put plans in place to regularly review these core areas – doing so will ensure strong business foundations.
Boldness Regrets – “I wish I’d taken the chance”
Pink found that people regret what they didn’t do far more often than what they did. This is particularly relevant in business. The service you never launched. The opportunity you didn’t pursue. The pricing increase you delayed. The partnership conversation you avoided.
Growth usually sits just beyond your comfort zone. Don’t let fear make decisions that should be guided by strategy. Here at Smart Books we like to say – “if you are not sure where to start – start somewhere!” Risk adverse? – trial an idea for 2 weeks and see what happens – this could be the next best thing for your business!
Moral Regrets – “I wish I’d done the right thing”
Moral regrets arise when our actions don’t align with our values. Your business values should match your personal ones. If they don’t – take a good look at why not. That time you had misgivings about a new client, and took them anyway because you needed the revenue. Promising deliverables that you already knew couldn’t be met. Not getting round to thanking someone who went the extra mile to help you. Avoiding that difficult conversation.
Shortcuts and procrastination often create long-term costs. Protect your reputation and values as carefully as you protect your revenue.
Connection Regrets – “I wish I’d contacted them.”
Business is ultimately about people. Being ‘too busy’ is not a valid reason to continually fail to check-in with business partners, professional colleagues, team members, and clients. In this technology and virtual business world it is all too easy to hide behind email and software apps.
Relationships are one of your most valuable business assets. Invest in them before you need them. Ignore them at your peril!
Turning regret into better business decisions
What makes Daniel Pink’s research so powerful is that these regrets aren’t really about the past- they’re signals for the future. Foundation regrets remind us to build strong systems and habits. Boldness regrets challenge us to back ourselves and act on opportunities. Moral regrets reinforce the importance of integrity, while Connection regrets highlight the value of investing in relationships before they need repairing.
As business owners, bookkeepers, and professionals, we all have decisions we’ve delayed, conversations we’ve avoided, or opportunities we’ve let pass by. The good news is that regret doesn’t have to be a source of guilt. It can be a source of insight.
So, take a moment to reflect – what might your future self regret not doing today? The answer could identify the system you need to implement, the opportunity you need to pursue, the conversation you need to have, or the relationship you need to strengthen.
If you’d like to explore the research further, Daniel Pink’s book ‘The Power of Regret’ provide fascinating insights into what thousands of people around the world wish they had done differently – and, more importantly, what those lessons can teach us about making better decisions now.
Because the goal isn’t to live without regrets. The goal is to learn from them early enough so that they shape a better future. What’s the one thing you could take action on right now in your business to stop a regret occurring?
