"The Power of Regret" by Daniel Pink

“No regrets.” You hear people say that as a positive philosophy of life. But that’s nonsense, even dangerous, notes Daniel Pink in his latest book, “The Power of Regret.”. Everybody has regrets, says the author. He has survey results to prove it. Pink and his team asked 15,000 people in 105 countries if they ever looked back on their lives and wished they’d done things differently. Eighty-two percent said regret was at least an occasional part of their lives. Regrets are a fundamental part of our lives, Pink states. But here’s the good news: if we reckon with them in fresh and imaginative ways, we can use our regrets to make smarter decisions and perform better at work and school, he says.In his book, Pink provides some steps to help people deal with their regrets. Rather than be haunted by regret, make a list of your regrets, he suggests. “You will find that a list is a lot less frightening than a ghost," suggested Pink.In his interview with Steve Tarter, Pink relates that his survey uncovered four basic kinds of regrets that people have—not worrying about whether they should have bought this car or that or ordered something else from the menu.The four included connection regrets over things like a failed romance or neglecting a bond with a parent or moral regrets where you failed to live up to a personal commitment. Foundation regrets might involve wishing you’d stayed in school or worked harder in school while boldness regrets involve inaction: I should have gone ahead and…