Daniel Pink: Turn Your Biggest Regrets Into the Ultimate Self-Improvement Tool | Human Behavior | YAPClassic

**Hala Taha** (0:03)
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Hey, YAPBAM, you know that voice in your head that says, I wish I did this differently? That voice of regret that most of us just ignore? Well, today's guest says that voice is actually trying to help you. Daniel Pink is the bestselling author of multiple books.
Today, he's going to be talking about regret and teaching us how regret can make us better, bolder, and more intentional. So listen in, YAPBAM. It's time to stop running from regret and start learning from it with Daniel Pink.
Welcome back to Young and Profiting Podcast, Daniel.

**Daniel Pink** (1:31)
Hey, it's great to be here, Hala. Thanks for having me.

**Hala Taha** (1:34)
Yes, I'm super excited for this conversation. So last time you're on the show, it was back in December of 2019 It was for episode number 50 It was called The Science of Perfect Timing. That episode was actually one of my all-time favorite episodes on YAP. Everybody who listened to it loved it. I have a feeling this conversation is going to be equally as good because in my opinion you are the epitome of what a great podcast guest is. You're so knowledgeable. There's no fluff when you talk. Everything is backed up by science and research, and so you are the ideal YAP guest for that reason. Here at YAP, we love to go super deep on a specific topic. Today's focus is going to be on regrets. You are the author of seven books and your latest book is called The Power of Regret, How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward. So let's jump right into this topic of regret. Last time you're on the show, we covered your career journey extensively. Anybody who's tuning in and interested in that can go back to episode number 50 I highly recommend that episode.
Daniel, I'm pretty familiar with your work.
Usually you write a book because you're very curious about the topic yourself and you start to research that topic. You call this MeSearch. Let's start there. What was the genesis of this book, The Power of Regret, and what initially got you curious about this topic?

**Daniel Pink** (2:44)
Well, once again, I've fallen down the trap of MeSearch because that's what this is again. Here's what happened.
In 2019, I had one of those moments in life that you get to when you get to be my age. I'm in my 50s and I had a kid graduate from college. That's a jarring experience because you wonder, how did that kid grow up so fast and how am I possibly old enough to have a kid who's graduating from college?
In the course of this college graduation, which is very long and lengthy, and my daughter's last name starts with P, there was a lot of waiting around. Inevitably, your mind wanders and as my mind was wandering, my thoughts turned to my own college experience and I started thinking about what I regretted. There were a lot of things I regretted. I wish I had worked harder. I wish I had been kinder. I wish I had been a little gutsier, taking more risks. These thoughts were tiptoeing through my head when I came back, and I wanted to discuss them with other people. But I knew that nobody wanted to talk about regret because it's taboo. Against my better judgment, I very, very, very, very, very sheepishly mentioned a few of these regrets to a few people, and I discovered that everybody wanted to talk about regret, that there was a kind of topic that there was this kind of damn breaking, that people said, oh my God, you have that regret, I have that regret too, and they wanted to talk about it. I think what's interesting from a writer's perspective is that, sometimes I'll raise an idea or a concept and people are like, okay, that's nice, all right, whatever. What are we having for dinner? That happens a lot, and that's cool. But this is one where people like literally, and I mean this literally, I mean the literal definition of literal.