How to Let go of a Financial Decision Regret:
When you look back there is probably a past financial decision that you wish you had made differently. You keep ruminating about it and just can’t let go of this financial regret. Maybe you bought a timeshare package or a club membership that expired. And then there are the decisions like buying a piece of land. All of these financial decisions trigger a very strong emotion of financial regret.
Imagine a Worse Alternative
We tend to imagine that things would have turned out better if you had not made that mistake. That is the root of your financial regret to keep lingering on those feelings. Let us say you trusted someone and ended up losing an amount of $X. The regret of that action will keep gnawing and you just can’t let go of that financial mistake.
Would that not have left you worse off?
When viewed, the current mistake that you are regretting about could be a blessing in disguise. Take your current mistake as a cost of avoiding a future that could have been bleaker. You still have the power to become wiser to your motives.
Don’t Let Hindsight Cloud Your Memory
We are all geniuses with the benefit of hindsight that the financial regrets could have been avoided. But it can be hard to remember what you felt like when you made that decision in the past. Maybe you did not have all the information that you needed. The new information can make things look clearer in your mind than they were. So don’t let hindsight cause you to act overly to totally unwarranted self-criticism.
Let Go of the Mistake
Although it’s easy to get past financial regrets, there is something positive in each of those mistakes. The positive can help you avoid a similar mistake in the future. You will continue to face new situations similar to what you encountered in the past. Using the past can help you spot those mistakes before they happen again. So the next time, you are much more likely to acquire financial literacy to make the correct financial decision.
Don’t Try to Overcompensate
The regret of past financial mistakes will cause you to over-compensate for a poor decision you made in the past. If you lost some money, you might be tempted to double on new investments to recover your losses. That could make a situation worse and it is critical to make a clear cut from the past. That should not have any role to play in the money choices that you are making now. Don’t use your present actions to act as compensation for what you learned from that past.
Help Someone Else
Use your learning from financial regret to help someone avoid the same mistake. You will get a huge positive rush from helping someone facing a similar situation. Not only will this help, but will fill you up with renewed enthusiasm when facing future financial decisions. Learning from mistakes can prevent someone else from making the same financial regrets. Most financial mistakes share a common thread such as trusting someone blindly or acting on impulse.
