Regret-free decisions

Have you ever made a decision you would sooner or later regret having made? If you haven't you're lucky; many other people have.

What's funny is that in the decision-making process, countless techniques are available to us, starting with the famous Ben Franklin's “T-Chart” and going to a host of different schemes dealing with mathematical or scientific approaches, mostly focused on the pragmatic side of decision-making.

What's conspicuously absent in that process though, is what I'd call the “Regret-Factor”. It works just like this: Ask yourself if I make (or do not make) that decision, will I ever regret it?

• This can be expressed in time: sooner or later. 
• In intensity: Will I suffer from it, will it be mild, will it tear me apart? 
• In opportunities: Was it the only shot I had at it or will it ever come again? 
• In a question of life or death (serious!) 
• In a matter of pride, joy or shame, etc. 

So, next time you get organized to make a decision, no matter what method you use, leave some decent room for the Regret-Factor. I guarantee that you won't regret it!