Have you ever known that you were to do something – write that card, say those words, take that action – and you shared it with someone and they dismissed the idea with a rolled eye? Did you allow yourself to be talked out of it? I have. At 36 years old, some of my biggest regrets are linked to not doing whatever it was anyway. Regardless of the eye roll.
I’m a big fan of gathering input from people I respect. But sometimes, maybe not very often, you know what you are to do and you just need to do it.
For example, I regret not writing the letter to my (small) hometown’s successful car dealership owner and asking him to lunch so I could interview him informally for ideas on success in business. I was 18. I had nothing to lose and everything to learn but I shared this with someone close to me, asking for input, and they shut it down as a stupid idea, a waste of time to him. It would not have (totally) been. And his perspective may have saved me some myopic decisions later in my early 20’s.
Conversely, a lot of times I have purposefully made a move in life and while it may not have brought the hoped for result, it taught me something.
Overall I agree with Mark Twain’s sentiment that on your deathbed you will regret more the things you didn’t do than the things you did.
What do you need to do today? Maybe it's worth doing regardless of what anyone else says.
