How to guarantee you regret your life

Summary

This video script humorously outlines the 'perfect' path to a life filled with regret, suggesting prioritizing work over all else, following others' expectations, suppressing feelings, neglecting friendships, avoiding change, ignoring health, seeking instant gratification, holding grudges, and never allowing happiness. It satirically advises against intentional living and self-reflection, ultimately urging viewers to avoid the author's book on 'Feelgood Productivity' and a series on intentional living.

Takeaways

• 📈 Prioritizing work over all else can lead to regret, as it may sacrifice health, relationships, and personal fulfillment.
• 💼 The pursuit of traditional career success and societal approval can result in a life that lacks authenticity and personal satisfaction.
• 🚫 Suppressing feelings and avoiding open communication can lead to unspoken frustrations and missed opportunities for genuine connections.
• 👥 Neglecting friendships by not investing effort can cause relationships to fade and contribute to a lonely life.
• 🛑 Staying within one's comfort zone and avoiding change or growth can lead to a stagnant and unfulfilling life.
• 📚 Avoiding books like 'Feelgood Productivity' that promote a balanced approach to life can keep one stuck in a cycle of grind without joy.
• 🍔 Ignoring health by consuming unhealthy foods, avoiding exercise, and leading a sedentary lifestyle can have detrimental long-term effects.
• 🥃 Prioritizing instant gratification over long-term well-being can lead to short-term pleasures at the expense of future happiness and success.
• 🤬 Holding grudges and not forgiving can create a life filled with resentment and bitterness.
• 😞 Refusing to allow oneself to be happy and setting unrealistic conditions for happiness can prevent the experience of joy and contentment.
• 🎯 Living without intention or purpose, and not reflecting on what constitutes a good life, can result in a directionless and regretful existence.

Q & A

What is the main message of the video script regarding prioritizing work over everything else?

The main message is that prioritizing work over all aspects of life, such as health and relationships, can lead to regret in the long run, as it neglects the importance of a balanced life.

What is the irony in the script's approach to achieving career success?

The irony lies in the fact that the script suggests prioritizing work to the extreme, which is actually a recipe for regret, contradicting the typical advice for career success.

According to the script, what is the second top regret of the dying as mentioned in Bonnie Ware's book?

The second top regret of the dying, as mentioned in Bonnie Ware's book, is 'I wish I hadn't worked so hard.'

What does the script suggest about following societal expectations and the potential for regret?

The script suggests that blindly following societal expectations and the approval of others can lead to a life filled with regret, as it may prevent one from living a life true to oneself.

Why does the script advise against suppressing one's feelings?

Suppressing feelings can lead to unspoken frustrations and missed opportunities for authentic connections, which can contribute to a life of regret.

What is the potential consequence of letting friendships fade over time, as suggested in the script?

Letting friendships fade can result in a lonely and miserable life, as it deprives one of the support and companionship that strong social connections provide.

How does the script relate sticking to one's comfort zone to a life of regret?

Sticking to one's comfort zone and avoiding change or growth can lead to a stagnant life, which may be filled with regret due to missed opportunities for personal development.

What is the script's stance on the importance of taking care of one's health?

The script humorously suggests that neglecting one's health by not exercising, eating unhealthy, and prioritizing work over well-being can lead to regret later in life.

Why does the script argue against prioritizing instant gratification?

Prioritizing instant gratification over long-term benefits can lead to a life of regret, as it may result in missed opportunities for growth and fulfillment.

What does the script suggest about the relationship between holding grudges and potential life regrets?

Holding grudges and not forgiving others can contribute to a life of regret, as it prevents one from experiencing the peace and growth that come from forgiveness and reconciliation.

How does the script recommend approaching happiness in life to avoid regret?

The script humorously recommends setting unrealistically high standards for happiness, which can make it almost impossible to achieve, thus ensuring a life of regret.

What is the final point the script makes about designing one's life with intention?

The script suggests that having no intention or reflection when designing one's life can lead to regret, as it implies a lack of thoughtful consideration about what truly matters to the individual.

Outlines

00:00

😔 Prioritizing Work Over All Else

This paragraph humorously suggests prioritizing work and career success above all else as a surefire way to regret one's life. It satirically recommends sacrificing health, relationships, and personal fulfillment for the sake of climbing the corporate ladder. The speaker cites 'The Top Five Regrets of the Dying' by Bronnie Ware, highlighting the regret of working too hard. The tone is ironic, implying that such a life is not fulfilling and urging the audience to consider what truly matters.

05:01

🤔 Living Up to Others' Expectations

The second paragraph focuses on the theme of living according to the expectations of others rather than one's own desires. It sarcastically advises following societal norms and parental wishes, even if it means suppressing personal passions and interests. The speaker again references the top regrets of the dying, emphasizing the importance of living a life true to oneself. The summary points out the irony of the advice, suggesting that conforming to others' expectations can lead to a life of regret.

😡 Suppressing Emotions and Letting Friendships Fade

This paragraph discusses the detrimental effects of suppressing emotions and allowing friendships to wither. It mockingly suggests keeping feelings hidden and not investing in relationships, which can lead to isolation and missed opportunities for authentic connections. The speaker points out that not expressing feelings or maintaining friendships can contribute to a life filled with regret, as per the regrets of the dying.

Keywords

💡Regret

Regret is a deep sense of sadness or disappointment over something that one has done or failed to do. In the context of the video, it is used to emphasize the potential negative consequences of prioritizing work over all else, following others' expectations, and not living a life true to oneself. The script mentions 'regret' in relation to the 'top five regrets of the dying,' highlighting the importance of making choices that align with one's own values and desires to avoid such feelings.

💡Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance refers to the equilibrium between an individual's work and personal life. The video script uses this concept to caution against prioritizing work at the expense of personal relationships and health. It suggests that overworking, as a means to achieve corporate success, can lead to life regrets, as it may result in neglecting important aspects of life such as family and personal well-being.

💡Corporate Ladder

The corporate ladder is a metaphorical representation of the hierarchical structure within a company, where one can 'climb' to higher positions. The script satirically recommends prioritizing climbing this ladder over all else, implying that an excessive focus on career advancement can lead to a life filled with regret, as it may come at the cost of personal fulfillment and happiness.

💡Authenticity

Authenticity is the quality of being true to one's own personality, spirit, or character. The video script warns against suppressing one's feelings and living up to others' expectations, stating that this can lead to regret. Authenticity is linked to the top regret of the dying, 'I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself,' indicating the importance of self-expression and living according to one's own values.

💡Instant Gratification

Instant gratification is the desire to experience satisfaction or fulfillment without delay. The script criticizes the prioritization of short-term pleasures over long-term benefits, suggesting that this approach can lead to a life of regret. It implies that indulging in immediate rewards, such as excessive social media use or unhealthy eating, may compromise one's future well-being.

💡Comfort Zone

A comfort zone is a psychological state in which a person feels familiar, safe, and at ease. The video script advises against stepping out of this zone, sarcastically suggesting that avoiding change and growth can lead to a life of regret. It implies that personal development and fulfillment often require taking risks and embracing new experiences.

💡Intentionality

Intentionality refers to the act of doing something with a specific purpose or intention. The script humorously discourages intentionality in life design, suggesting that a lack of reflection and goal-setting can result in a life filled with regret. It contrasts this with the idea of living a purposeful and meaningful life, which requires intentional thought and action.

💡Health

Health is a state of physical, mental, and social well-being. The video script uses the neglect of health as an example of behavior that can lead to regret, recommending an unhealthy lifestyle as a way to 'guarantee' a life of regret. It highlights the importance of taking care of one's health through exercise, a balanced diet, and avoiding harmful habits like smoking.

💡Forgiveness

Forgiveness is the act of pardoning or ceasing to hold a grudge against someone. The script humorously suggests that holding grudges and not forgiving others can lead to a life of regret, implying that the ability to forgive contributes to emotional well-being and personal growth.

💡Happiness

Happiness is a state of well-being and contentment. The video script ironically advises against allowing oneself to be happy, referencing the regret of the dying, 'I wish I had let myself be happier.' It suggests that pursuing happiness and enjoying life can be essential to living a life without regrets.

💡Friendship

Friendship is a close and supportive relationship between two people. The script uses the fading of friendships as an example of a behavior that can lead to regret, suggesting that not investing in friendships and not maintaining social connections can result in a lonely and regretful life.

Highlights

Prioritizing work over everything else may lead to life regrets, as suggested by Bonnie Ware's book 'The Top Five Regrets of the Dying'.

Achievement and career success are not the only important things in life; neglecting health and relationships can be detrimental.

The pressure to constantly climb the corporate ladder and achieve material success can overshadow personal fulfillment.

Canceling on friends and missing family moments for work can result in long-term regret.

The belief that earning more money equates to family happiness is a misconception that can lead to regret.

Following societal expectations and parental desires can lead to a life filled with regret, contrary to living true to oneself.

Suppressing feelings and not expressing needs can lead to missed opportunities for authentic connections.

Allowing friendships to fade due to lack of effort can result in a lonely life.

Sticking to one's comfort zone and avoiding change or growth can lead to a stagnant and regretful life.

The speaker humorously suggests avoiding 'Feelgood Productivity' in favor of 'Disciplined Productivity' to ensure regret.

Neglecting health by not exercising, eating unhealthy, and smoking can have long-term regretful consequences.

Prioritizing instant gratification over long-term benefits can lead to a life of regret.

Holding grudges and not forgiving others can contribute to a life filled with resentment and regret.

Not allowing oneself to be happy and setting unrealistic happiness conditions can prevent experiencing joy.

Lacking intentionality in life design and going with the flow can result in a directionless and regretful life.

The speaker recommends avoiding a three-part series on intentional living to ensure a life of regret.

Transcripts

if you want to guarantee that you're

absolutely going to regret your life you

should absolutely prioritize work over

everything else you know work and

achievement and sort of climbing the

ladder of corporate and Career Success

is just the most important thing in life

right like there's nothing more

important than making sure you get that

next wrong on the ladder that making

sure you get your freaking million

subscriber YouTube claque and making

sure you get that first class degree

because obviously if you don't squeeze

out those extra percentage points in

your University degree it's just not

even worth it right whenever there's a

choice between prioritizing your health

or thinking about your relationship

or doing something related to work you

should always pick the work example you

should totally cancel on your friends

for the sake of staying at the office a

little bit later you should miss the

childhood of your kids because you were

working too hard and you should

absolutely convince yourself that

earning that money is the thing that's

really going to bring you fulfillment

it's going to bring you Joy and and you

should convince yourself that the extra

money is really what your family want

from you rather than your own Presence

by the way the reason this is the first

point we're talking about is because a

palet of careers by the name of Bonnie

wear once wrote a book called the top

five regrets of the dying and and the

second of the top five regrets is I wish

I hadn't worked so hard so if you really

want to guarantee that you regret your

life you should probably completely

ignore that advice and work really

really really really hard for your

entire life secondly if you want to

completely guarantee that you regret

your life you should follow what other

people expect of you you should do

exactly the thing that your parents

really want of you you should do exactly

the thing that Society thinks is good

for you and that would give you social

status and that would give you the

approval of people that you know and

also people that you don't know you

should should try to do anything

unconventional you shouldn't even think

of following your passions or God forbid

taking a pay cut to do a job that you

might enjoy more the most important

thing to make sure that you regret your

life is to follow what others expect of

you and again in Brackets the top regret

of the dying is I wish I'd had the

courage to live a life true to myself

not the life others expected of me so if

you really want to guarantee that you

regret your life don't have the courage

to live life true to yourself and

instead live the life that other people

expect of you all right tip number three

for guaranteeing that you regret your

life is to always suppress your feelings

no one should really have to know what

you really feel about something you

should never really express any of your

needs or your preferences you should

always suppress your feelings keep them

to yourselves never really be honest

with anyone about how you're feeling you

know because God forbid they might think

less of you they might think you're less

likable or less lovable all of those

reasons and you should really feel those

unspoken frustrations and those missed

opportunities for authentic connections

because oh you just really do not want

to express any of your feelings Point

number four to guarantee that you regret

your life is to let your friendships

fade over time don't ever put any effort

into investing in friendships after all

you know if you're really friends then

you it shouldn't require any effort to

keep in touch right you know they should

be the ones reaching out to you and the

fact that they haven't reached out to

you probably means that they're not

interested in being friends with you and

so you obviously shouldn't reach out to

them you should never write Christmas

cards you should never wish anyone a

happy birthday because you know who

needs to do that you should never take

it upon yourself to organize any social

Gatherings at your house you should

never bother organizing a trip after all

you're the one who should be invited to

these things you aren't the one who

should be organizing them because your

time is worth way more than that because

remember you're spending all your time

working right don't these people realize

that you've got all of this work that

you have to do and that you can't be the

one to organize stuff so you should

absolutely let your friendships Fade

Away over time so that you die miserable

and alone Point number five is that you

should really really stick to your

comfort zone and you should completely

avoid any kind of change or growth at

all costs cuz really you know you just

really want to be yourself and being

yourself means you should just accept

every part of you and you should never

try and grow you should never step

outside of your comfort zone because if

you do that things will feel a little

bit uncomfortable and you really just

want to focus on maximizing comt and you

can convince yourself that the more you

maximize Comfort the happier you'll be

and by doing that you will absolutely

guarantee a life of regret also if you

want a life filled with regret you

should absolutely not Buy and read my

book Feelgood productivity Feelgood

productivity why the freak would you

want productivity that feels good that's

all Bs you want grindy productivity you

want discipline productivity gosh we

should like take a sharpie and cross all

that out really it should be titled

disciplined productivity how to do more

this is going to be some of those like

gen Z shitty books that just talks about

like following your passion and actually

enjoying yourself enjoyment is for

losers feeling good is for losers not

for a high Achievers like you so you

should absolutely avoid this book at all

costs all right Point number six is that

you should absolutely avoid taking care

of your health you should put zero

investment of time or energy or money or

effort into taking care of your health

along the way you should probably eat

really really unhealthy things you

should never exercise you should never

go to the gym you should always be

sitting all the time you should probably

smoke as well because all of those

things feel really good in the moment in

fact while you're there you can sit on

the sofa you can hook up a catheter to

your your urethra and you can use that

as a way of not having to get up to use

the toilet you can sit in front of the

computer you can scroll social media as

much as you possibly like and all that

is going to absolutely guarantee that

you regret your life when you're older

all right Point number seven is that you

should always prioritize instant

gratification always prioritize the

things that feel good in the moment

because what's the point of doing

something that you know will be good for

you over the long term when you could do

that thing that feels so good in the

short term you might as well have that

extra drink you might as well spend that

extra hour scrolling social media and if

you do that you're also going to

guarantee a life filled with regret all

right Point number eight is that you

should never apologize and you should

never forgive anyone if someone has

wronged you then you should hold a

grudge forever because after all if you

apologize to them or if you forgave them

that would mean that you're a really

weak person and you don't really want to

be a weak person you want to be the sort

of person that regrets your life Point

number nine is don't let yourself be

happy because you know if you look at

these top five regrets of the dying the

fifth one on the list is I wish I had

let myself be happier so make sure you

don't let yourself be happy make sure

you appreciate that being happy in the

moment is actually just a recipe for

mediocrity and you're not the sort of

person who's mediocre you're the sort of

person who really really cares about

their work you want to be ambitious you

don't want to allow yourself to be happy

cuz you're so worried that if you allow

yourself to be happy it's going to take

all of your drive it's going to remove

your Edge and you're going to end up

being like all of those masses of people

out there who are really happy but who

are not achieving anything at all while

we're there actually make sure you set

rules for yourself make sure you create

boundaries and rules that make it really

hard to enjoy your life you know make

sure that like the rules you set for

yourself to be happy are that all sorts

of things have to happen in order for

you to be happy the weather has to be

amazing and on top of that you must have

done your 3-hour morning routine and on

top of that you must have had a friend

reach out to you to spontaneously give

you some positive affirmation and on top

of that you must have never had an

argument or had a bad day at work

ideally not even had to work at all make

sure to have an enormously long

checklist of things that have to be true

for you to be happy such that it becomes

almost impossible to experience any

happiness because those things are never

going to happen all than one day and

finally Point number 10 to guarantee a

life filled with regret make sure to

have no intention at all when designing

your life cuz why would you bother right

why would you bother doing kind of

reflection about what a good life means

to you why would you ever bother

watching an alial video about journaling

prompts or how to figure out what to do

with your life or thinking about what

you really value why would you bother

with that kind of stuff you should just

be like a pebble floating around in the

waves you should just go with the flow

you should just go with whatever Society

is telling you to do you should just go

with whatever your life circumstances

and your background and upbringing were

you should never have any intentionality

when it comes to designing your life

intentionality is for losers after all

you know those people who waste their

time thinking about what a good life

means to them or reading pH phos ophy or

journaling about this sort of stuff

they're all just wasting that time

that's that's time that they could have

spent working instead and you after all

are a worker you really appreciate

ambition and success and material

possessions why on Earth would you be

intentional about designing your life

and if you really want to guarantee a

life filled with regret you should

absolutely not watch this three-part

series because in that three-part series

I break down what to do when you're

feeling lost how to figure out what you

value how to turn it into goals for

living an intentional and effective life

that's not filled with regret so if you

really want to guarantee a life filled

with regret you should never ever ever

watch that playlist of three videos see

you