How to Live Life With No Regrets (what I’m doing)
After turning 30, I felt the pressure of getting older for the first time. I didn’t really care, but I felt a small taste of what regret (mixed with urgency) actually felt like. Somehow, I had not achieved the things I dreamed about achieving during my twenties.
I guess I always believed I had more time for my goals, so I didn’t prioritize them. Then, I realized that time moved a lot faster than previously thought. So, since then, I’ve been passionate about living life with no regrets.
Because turning 30 is nothing — you’re still young. I can only imagine how turning 40, 50, 60 and beyond will feel if I continue to put things off.
So this is what I’m doing to live life without regrets.
Let’s do this.
Table of Contents Show
What Living A Life Without Regret Means
A life without regrets means you accept and love all of the decisions you made. But no regret doesn’t mean no struggle.
Put another way, if you were given the choice to go back in time and change anything you want, you wouldn’t change a thing. Because even the struggles played their roles.
Growth, learning and wisdom are built by both ups and downs. Or as Ed Sheeran puts it, you learn absolutely nothing from success.
A life without regret recognizes the value of this and accepts everything as pieces in the puzzle and important milestones.
I like this perspective.
Why Live Life Without Regrets?
Fell happier
Feel more fulfilled
Live a more aligned life
Take more action on your dreams
Stop reliving past experiences
Improved mental health
It’s a form of personal growth
More focus on the present
Have a sense of quiet confidence
How to Live Life With No Regrets (8 tips)
Regret isn’t permanent. So if you have some and you’re reading this post, you still have time.
But for all of these ideas, everything comes down to a simple mindset: life is an art project, a creative, messy, art project — so have fun.
1. Know Your Core Values
What’s actually important to you? What are 4-5 of your core values? Sometimes, society, culture, family and friends make this type of self awareness a bit cloudy.
For me, a life without regret is a life that’s closely aligned with my core values, which are creativity, authenticity, autonomy, adventure and wellness.
So if you’ve never listed out your North Stars before, it can be a solid starting point.
I took a free test at personalvalu.es and spent some time doing self reflection.
Sometimes, I update my list as my life evolves. But most of my core values remain, no matter what’s going on in my life. They connected to my personality.
2. Embrace Your Weird, Amazing Authentic Self
When we hide who we are (personality, quirks, passions, etcetera), we’re suppressing our true selves. This can lead to stress and feelings of regret.
Your quirks and ‘weirdness’ are your authenticity. And when you’re living authentically, you’re living aligned, based on your passions and values.
When you live life this way, you’re less likely to experience regret later on (in my experience). Over the long term, I never regret moments I showed up completely as me.
So I say, learn to embrace and totally own what makes you you.
Explore more:
➤ Embrace Your Weirdness
3. Stop Sleeping On Your Dreams
“No one is more anxious than the ambitious person who creates nothing.”
This simple quote completely changed my habits, mindset and motivation — almost instantly.
It helped me to stop sleeping on my dreams and get to work on them already.
We all have ambitions and goals and projects. But so often, we get stuck in the planning and talking phase, and putting things off until tomorrow. It makes sense too.
Taking action can be uncomfortable, failure is scary and you’ll never feel completely ‘ready’.
This is doubly true if you have past trauma or bad experiences with pursuing your dreams. But there’s no magic cure, except to simply take action (mood follows actions anyways).
It’s easy, it’s hard, but it works.
Don’t sleep on your dreams for too long — it definitely leads to regret.
Explore more:
➤ The ‘Do Something’ Principle
4. Give Back
Selflessness and altruism are amazing things. As cheesy as it sounds, nothing fills you up quite like giving something away (time, money, stuff, etcetera).
If you focus on giving back, you’ll never regret that. It can even counterbalance other regrets you may have. Because while you may feel like you missed out on X and Y, at least you did Z (with Z being selflessness in this scenario).
A few ways I am (and plan to) give back include:
Donating
Volunteering
Sharing expertise pro bono
Becoming a mentor
But remember, giving back 100% isn’t sustainable either (for most people). So don’t forget about self care and making time for you and your passions too.
5. Live Life Like A Curious Explorer
Not developing or following your curiosities in life leads to regret and never-knowingness.
At the same time, exploring curiosities leads to new discoveries and opportunities you would have otherwise never found.
When you know you’ve done your best to explore all life has to offer, you’re less likely to feel regret about what you did or didn’t do. Because you’ll know that you at least tried.
So here are a few examples for how to live life like a curious explorer:
Ask that person out
Try a new career
Buy that plane ticket
Do things that scare you and overcome your fears
Explore more:
➤ Love the Unknown
6. Explore Your Life Purpose(s)
Do you believe in destiny or a life purpose? For me, it’s yes and no.
Yes, because we all have innate proclivities and interests for things. We’re drawn to certain stuff and sometimes we just have a knack for certain things.
But at the same time, we have the free will to ignore those callings and choose another path.
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about this concept (of destiny) and I believe our individual purpose (if we do have one) is connected to those things we’re naturally good at or drawn to.
If we choose to pursue those things, the path will be a little less bumpy and the results will be a little more surprising. And there’s a better chance (when it’s all said and done) you won’t be left wondering “what if…?”
You won’t be left with regret.
Of course, this is assuming that my thesis on destiny is true. But whatever the case, it’s worth thinking about.
So what things are you naturally drawn to or good at? Have you explored them fully?
Because if you ignore your ‘calling’, you may regret it later on.
7. Live Beyond the Material World
Material things don’t sustain long-term happiness. Money, ‘stuff’, status and metrics all have diminishing returns.
The more you get, the more you need to feel the same amount of happiness.
In my opinion, a life spent disproportionately pursuing material stuff can lead to regret. Because someday, eventually, you’ll realize that that wasn’t what mattered.
So I like to focus on living beyond the material world. Here’s how:
Do more of what you want
Focus on personal fulfillment
Detach metrics and money from success
Practice gratitude — become stoked on what you have
Stay humble (but not too humble)
Avoid attachment
8. Live a Life of Constant Self-Discovery
Life isn’t stagnant. Everything changes and embracing that change makes me feel like I’m living an epic life full of discovery and adventure (rather than a timid one).
So keep uncovering and rediscovering who you are and never stop.
Try new things and try them often.
Try new ways of thinking.
Test and experiment.
Live like an explorer and a curious researcher.
Learn new languages, go traveling, try new hobbies, follow your intuition, look awkward and feel uncomfortable.
Live life and discover who you are. And then rediscover yourself again.
For me, that’s living a life with no regrets.
Explore more:
➤ How to Look Within
Later ✌️
Living a life without regret is the ultimate goal. But sometimes, by the time someone realizes regret, it feels too late.
It’s not.
The fact that you’re here reading this post puts you ahead — the odds are in your favor. Living a life without regret is a choice, and you’ve made up your mind.
For me, this means living aligned with my core values, embracing my true authenticity, taking action on my passions and dreams, giving back, staying curious and constantly discovering newness.
What about you – how will you live your life with no regrets?
Want More? Nice. Here’s More.
