10 Ways to Have No Regrets

I love Quora! It's a fun forum where the great questions of life get debated. Like...

• What is it like to be a priest hearing confessions? 

• What is the most productive thing I can do when I'm bored? 

• What are the most overrated things in life? 

I also love Quibb, a great community for business and tech news/advice.






The following is compiled from multiple posts on both sites, all relating to: If you could time-travel, what would you tell your younger self? That's very much a part of working smarter...Learning life's lessons before it's too late! 



1. Make a List to Live By


You only have about XX years left, so don't waste them on:

• Earning more money than you need

• Learning more things than you need or are interested in

• Buying more items than you need

• Getting more friends than you need

• Eating more food than you need

• Trying to impress people out of vanity

• Spending money on conspicuous consumption

• Wasting other people's time

• Pursuing goals that have no purpose

• Getting involved in projects that you have doubts about

• Getting involved with people you are not serious about

• Trying to be smart for the sake of it

• Other people's opinions if you have no intention of accepting them

• Imposing your beliefs and opinions on others

• Trying to find meaning and purpose in life other than your instincts

~ Stan Hayward


2. Have Fun...Now!

Enjoy the hell out of this because it all disappears.

~ Bianca Diesel



3. Fear Brings Nothing


Believe....trust in yourself! Most of all do not fear. Never fear. NEVER. Fear is, as Frank Herbert said in Dune: "....a mind killer." It brings no strength. It brings no resolve. It is the challenge of every human to see through its shadow and its lie.  

~ Aurora Clawson

If it scares you, you should probably do it.

~ Priyanshu Gupta



4. Trust Your Gut


If it says "stay the fuck away from this", it's right 9 out 10 times. So stay the fuck away. It is really that simple.

~ Martin Sjoorda


5. Don't Fight Stupid. Make More Awesome


Don't listen to stupid people, time is priceless and stupidity is contagious. What is life about anyway?...Being with the people you love.

~ Guillermo Schwarz


6. Share the Love. Help Others Be Happy


Give compliments freely, when deserved. We're so quick to critique and attack, but much more reluctant to give compliments. A few years ago, I resolved to change that in my own life, and to make a effort to actually tell people when they do something good, when I care about them, when they make me smile. It's been a huge success.

~ Eivind Kjørstad 




7. Dream Bigger, Be a Better You


The nine habits I wish I had cultivated earlier are:

1. Setting my goals higher and following through (dreaming bigger)

2. Gratitude

3. Demonstrating & expressing that gratitude to others

4. Healthy eating (particularly fruits during college)

5. Exercise

6. Meditation

7. Regular mentorship

8. Keeping in touch better

9. Asking better questions, greater self reflection & journaling

~ Nathan Ketsdever 


8. Keep Updating/Revising Your List


I have carried a slip of paper in my left pocket for 25 years with no more than 10 items on it. An item gets crossed off when it is completed and another item (sometimes) takes its place. On many occasions I find myself re-copying my "10 List" onto a new sheet because the items have not gone away or have become corroded with fish scales. The list is the first thing I look at when I arise and the last thing I glance at when I go to sleep. Sometimes an item will solve itself in the interim.

~ Ken Larson


9. Be Present. Fully. Always


Learning to enjoy the little things in life. Being in the here and now — not thinking about the past or being totally focused on the future.

~ Pamela Jacob


10. Honor Your Hard-Won Career Lessons


• Do not stay in a job you dislike.


• Choose a career for the intrinsic rewards, not the financial ones. 

• Don’t give up on looking for a job that makes you happy.

• Emotional intelligence trumps every other kind. Develop your interpersonal skills if you want to succeed.

• Everyone needs autonomy. Career satisfaction is often dependent on how much autonomy you have on the job. Look for the freedom to make decisions and move in directions that interest you, without too much control from the top

~ Karl Pillemer, Cornell University, 30 Lessons for Living