Let’s assume you are looking for a house. Your dream house is at a lake and has a lot of rooms. After weeks of house-hunting, you finally find it. It is beautiful and it is exactly like in your imagination. After you make some calculations, you know you can’t afford it. The mortgage will cost a lot every month. The real estate agent tells you there are a lot of other interested parties. You want it even more! You fear that this house won’t be in your hands. This is the last chance!
The feeling of potential regret makes us irrational. Even when you realize it, you will lose a lot. You consider buying it. But why?
Regret makes us irrational
When I was in elementary school, my life consisted of last chances. Every grade I will receive will decide my future. A final decision about my future. In addition, my mother frightened me at the early age of six. I was anxious every time I wrote a test or received one. Because any bad grade will further solidify me as a failure. Any test is in this context my last chance to prove otherwise.
I feared that I will regret having studied too little. It was smart to use the fear of regret on any children. We were forced to study. A noble cause but a bad practice. It makes me anxious most of the time. I couldn’t think straight. The only thought about grades makes me numb and irrational. Instead of studying, I blocked myself from it. So why does fear of regret makes us irrational?
I witnessed this experience when Facebook was still small and started to be a big one. Every one of my friends switched from one domestic social media to Facebook. I was the last one to switch sides. One part because of peer pressure, another part because I feared regretting something from friends. I thought I would miss many things. So in the end, I switched.
Regret makes us irrational. For every decision in our lives, we fear that we make the wrong decision. Furthermore, the decision that does not follow the crowd, experiences more regret. The fear of regret can make us behave irrationally. To prevent this feeling, we tend to act conservatively, so that we do not deviate from the crowd too much.
How to prevent this
No one is truly strong against the fear of regret. Even professional brokers are flustered with regret. But there is one small trick to keep your mind calm.
You see, I dropped out of two universities and barely made my education as a web developer. But, it does not fear me in the slightest, and in the future, I will still not be scared of regret. Because I know there is always a way, a way out, and a future, no matter what happens.
Here is the thing. People are afraid to lose the unique thing in their life. Whether the perfect partner or the perfect job, once we drop this image that those things are irreplaceable, we will lose the fear of regret. And this tip will help you a lot. It even helped me. Once I realized that my ex-girlfriend is replaceable and not unique at all, my regret disappeared like cotton candy in water.
Summary – Regret makes us irrational
The fear of regret is a danger not to be underestimated. Many do not realize that they act and behave just because of this fear. Ask yourself is this the end of the road? If I fail this exam, will my life will be doomed? When I do not ask him/her out will I lose my potential soulmate? No, it is not. There will be many other opportunities in life. If they are at the end of the road, act quickly. But I remind you to take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and think calmly about what to do. Don’t let regret make us irrational.