Episode
What Makes a Good Life? This Study on 26,000 Regrets Will Guide You for the Rest of Your Life
- Podcast
- The Mel Robbins Podcast
- Published
- May 25, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4186
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.melrobbins.com/episode/episode-398
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Summary
When was the last time you thought about something you wish you'd done differently? A relationship you let drift apart. A mistake you wish you could take back. A conversation you keep putting off. A decision that you now realize was the wrong one. You’re not alone. Regret is actually one of the most common emotions people experience – and it’s the most misunderstood. That’s why Mel invited Daniel Pink, one of the most influential thinkers and authors of our time, to share the findings of his World Regret Survey, the largest study of human regret ever conducted, analyzing more than 26,000 regrets from people across 134 countries. After analyzing regrets from all around the world, his research has found that there are 4 core types of regrets, and based on what kind of regret you're dealing with, there are specific strategies that you can use to process it, learn from it, and move forward. You’re also going to be inspired to take action after hearing what other people regret the most, so you can live in a way that will avoid these regrets for yourself. In this episode, you’ll learn: -The 4 types of regret and how to recognize yours -The one type of regret that shows up more than any other -Why the things you didn't do will haunt you far more than the things you did, and what that tells you to go do today -Daniel's 3-step reset to stop repeating the same patterns and start moving forward -One simple move you can make today to stop repeating the same regret pattern This is not a conversation about the past. It's a conversation about what you do next. Because after studying 26,000 regrets, the answer is clear: You can't change what happened. You can change what happens next. For more resources related to today’s episode, click here for the podcast episode page. If you liked…