> As I always say - do what you will regret NOT doing once you are old.
IMO whether or not this is good for self or society depends a lot on what you value and thus think you will regret. On its own it is neither positive or negative and has to be combined with a lot of self-reflection and an innate sense of goodness to be useful.
Regret minimization is an oft-cited mantra among a lot of the current crop of centibillionaires who, if decency still matters in the future, will be viewed by society as even worse versions of gilded age villains.
And there is no evidence that this strategy helps those people on the personal development side when we remove society's view of them from the picture. You don't have to look at them too deeply to see that getting more than everything they wanted as a younger person never filled the void they have that keeps them wanting ever more regardless of how much damage they have to do in the process.
If you're a normal human being and what you will regret is not spending more time with loved ones and such, then yeah that's a great thing to focus on, I wish I had focused on it more when I was younger. If you're a human Hungry Ghost whose primary regret will be dying without the biggest number next to your name, well, maybe regret minimization isn't quite as helpful.
I can see how my advice could be read the wrong way in this post-shame world.
No, I do NOT mean "be an asshole if you feel like it".
I mean it more in the latter sense - take a vacation, go to Pompey. Say hello to the girl you like and see what happens. It's something you can do now, so later you don't replay it endlessly, wondering what would have been.
Also, no billionaire right in the head will be bemoaning not having more billions while on their deathbed.
> No, I do NOT mean "be an asshole if you feel like it".
FWIW, I didn't think you did and could have worded my reply more carefully.
I didn't mean to imply your suggestion of avoiding regret was likely to be the "be an asshole if you feel like it" type of regret minimization, I just wanted to point out that regret minimization can be either good or bad depending upon what the person doing it values.
> Also, no billionaire right in the head will be bemoaning not having more billions while on their deathbed.
I've met a couple of billionaires and none of them gave me the impression they were right in the head, generally speaking.
I'm inclined to believe that while not being right in the head isn't a prerequisite for becoming a billionaire, it helps.
Future me can suck it. I'll be selfish in the moment.
This is like watching videos of old folks saying: "I wish I took better care of my teeth". Right, cause thats what matters a lot to you now.
The lesson to be learned is that what you want from life changes. You shouldn't prioritize the needs of a future version of you.