Bestselling author: I asked 26,000 people around the world their biggest regrets—these were the top 4

Bestselling author: I asked 26,000 people around the world their biggest regrets—these were the top 4 
NBC News NECN Channel 4, Boston, MA; by Aston Jackson, CNBC; 1/11/25 
Living life without regrets is impossible, says bestselling author Daniel Pink. "Everybody has regrets. It's one of the most common emotions that human beings have," said Pink, in a podcast episode that published last month. "And yet, we've been sold such a bill of goods about positivity and being positive all the time that when we feel regret, we think we're the only one." Pink combed through decades of research and surveyed more than 26,000 people from 130 countries about their biggest regrets for his 2022 book, "The Power of Regret," according to his website. Most of those people struggled with four core regrets:

1. Foundation regrets are small decisions people make early in life that accumulate to terrible consequences later on ...
2. Boldness regrets are born from opportunities when you didn't take a risk, and later on, you wish you did ...
3. Moral regrets are the result of consciously making a bad decision instead of a good one ...
4. Connection regrets occur when you lose a close connection with someone, either platonically or romantically ...

The key is to not be stuck in regret," said Pink, ... Instead, you can turn these negative emotions into something meaningful, Pink said.  ... Teach someone else about your missteps so they can avoid them, or find a way to undo your misstep.
Editor's note: For hospice leaders, imagine you are dying. What might be your regrets from years past? May we each take time to pause. Reflect. Name and claim our regrets, and choose how to use these for our own best "quality of life" now and ahead.