I found an article in my Facebook feed regarding a nurse sharing the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed.
Here are the top 5 regrets:
- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
- I wish I didn’t work so hard.
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
- I wish that I had let myself be happier.
How do these tie to being an entrepreneur?
Regret # 1: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Being an entrepreneur, business owner or online marketer requires you to have the COURAGE to live a life that is true to you. It is not what is expected of us, most of us are expected to get a JOB. We are expected to seek stability and many people see that as a JOB. It takes COURAGE to be self employed and to manage through the ups and downs of running a business.
Regret #2: I wish I didn’t work so hard.
Entrepreneurs often work too hard, why? If you ask the question your get different answer such as:
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- It doesn’t feel like work
- I have to work this hard to get ahead
- No one else can do it so I have to be available 24/7
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I strongly believe one of the best benefits of being an entrepreneurs is setting your own schedule. Yes we have to work hard but we all need to plan time off in our schedule. We all need to re-energize, enjoy ourselves and the people we love. I think this needs to be a key element of every business plan and business goals.
Regret # 3: I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
I think in any business we have to be more authentic and honest about our feelings in an appropriate way. In the context of business some examples of appropriate feelings are expressing appreciation, enthusiasm, enjoyment, value, friendship, caring and passion for what we do.
Regret #4: I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
A cornerstone of any business these day is staying in touch with our clients, prospective clients, supplier and yes, our friends. In our busy world as entrepreneurs, it is often too easy to let the business drive our lives and not the other way around. Remember to take the time to reach out to friends. Call up someone you haven’t talked to in ages just to check in and say hello.
Regret # 5: I wish that I had let myself be happier.
If your choice of careers doesn’t make you happy then it time to really take stock of it. We spend so many hours working that we need to really enjoy what we do. I have a good friend who is an operating room nurse who loves what she does; so much so that she doesn’t mind the shift work and she can’t image doing anything else. I have other friends who are counting the years, days, and minutes until they retire. No matter what you do, choice to find a career that you are happy about, that you enjoy doing, which brings you a sense of satisfaction and joy.
The article ends with the following: “Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness”
Right now I choose to take the rest of the day off, go outside, enjoy the fresh new snow and family. Tomorrow I choose to be an entrepreneur and I will focus on creating value for my clients and myself.
What choice will you make towards choosing happiness today?
I love to see entrepreneurs follow their passions, serve more people and create the lifestyle of their dreams.
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A principal use to end his announcements, Have a good day or not, the choice is yours. That always stuck with me. I love how you tied everything together. Thanks for sharing. Anita
Funny, I just reading a report yesterday about regrets. A psychology professor was saying that he had been studying the emotion of regret for two decades. He said that people can use the emotion of regret. Regret can serve a healthy purpose if we listen to a message or draw an insight, but then move on and focus on the future.
I like the way you tied the article to entrepreneurs…nice job.
Rachel, that is a good point. We can use the emotion of regret to draw insight, the challenge is to not get stuck in it. Which I’m sure we’ve all done at time. The key is to learn from something and move on to the future. Thanks for commenting.
Heather, the piece “The Top Five Regrets Of The Dying” was the fuel for one of my very first blog posts. It never gets old, and everyone should have these five regrets mounted on the wall of their home and office. Thank you for reminding us!
Agnes, that is a good idea, having these regrets mounted and visual.