If you look back at your life so far, what do you regret?

I’m sure a few things pop into your head immediately.

Do you regret not finishing up your degree? Or maybe never going to school at all?

Do you wish you would have followed a different career path? Or chosen a different job?

I watched one of the top TED videos from 2011 today on regret, and I’ve included it here. It’s around 15 minutes in length, and I would highly recommend watching as it teaches a lot about how we look at ourselves.

One of the most interesting things Kathryn Schulz mentions is:

When we look back at our lives, there are many things we regret:

• Education 33%
• Career 22%
• Romance15%
• Parenting 10%
• Self 5.47%
• Leisure 2.55%

Yet financial regrets are even less.

We don’t wish we made more money and had more cash to buy bigger houses and cars. We want to take care of ourselves and the people around us; the ones that we love the most. We want to educate ourselves to feel fulfilled. We want a great career that we love and feel we are contributing to society.

We regret not taking chances that have could have done more to improve our lives. We regret not taking advantage of opportunities that come by.

So now is the time to think of what you have today, what opportunities are being presented to you, and what you will do that will affect the rest of your life.

Will you move forward with your goal of creating a successful full time professional photography business?

Or will you face regret at some point in the future?