Sometimes you have to make hard decisions in life. Big decisions. Whether to quit your job and start a business, move to another country and build a life there, or whom to spend the rest of your life with. While external counsel can be helpful at the end of the day you have to make the decision and live with its consequences.
Jeff Bezos faced this type of situation when he was deciding whether to quit his high paying banking job to start selling books online – what became Amazon. He searched high and low for frameworks but couldn’t find anything substantial. So in classic Jeff style, he created his own: The Regret Minimization Framework.
What is the regret minimization framework?
The framework itself is simple.
Project yourself forward to the age of 80. Looking back on your life, you want to minimize the number of regrets.
When you’re trying to make a big decision, consider how you’ll feel about it at age 80. Might it pan out as an incredible thing that changes the trajectory of your life for the better? What might be the downside? If you do nothing, will you regret not giving it a shot?
It seems simple but can be pretty powerful to help clear confusion and uncertainty over a decision. If your future self will thank you for taking the leap, find some courage and go for it. Who knows, it might be the best decision you’ve ever made.
Plus in reality, if things don’t work out it’s much easier to get back to where you were. If Amazon had failed I’m sure Jeff Bezos could’ve landed another banking job and come away with some good stories and life lessons to share.
You won’t regret failing but will regret never trying.
I used similar thinking when I decided to study abroad for a year while at university. I knew an opportunity like that, being a student with no responsibilities and all the time to travel, meet people, and immerse myself in another culture, would probably never come again. So I went for it and it was one of the most enriching experiences I’ve had and left me with a lifetime’s worth of memories to cherish.
I know I would’ve regretted it if I’d not gone, maybe not at aged 80 but for a fair few years, as there would’ve been nothing I could do to change that. And if it hadn’t worked out, like it didn’t for some people who went home after a few months, then I would’ve only lost a bit of time. Annoying, but not the end of the world.
“Regret for the Things We Did Can Be Tempered by Time; It Is Regret for the Things We Did Not Do That Is Inconsolable“
Sydney J. Harris
But a word of caution! Don’t use the regret minimization framework to do something stupid. Make sure to consider the risks – environment, timing, competence and other forces. You wouldn’t want to invest your life savings into something you didn’t understand and lose it. You probably would regret that at 80.
Be bold and live your life without regret!
