Exclusive: 10 Life Choices You Will Regret In 10 Years

By Lilian Wamaitha
They say that life is but one big school where we are always learning.
It’s all about taking risks and seeing where they lead you.
“If only…” are two simple words that you don’t want to ever say because the choices you make today determine to a great extent the kind of person you will be in future.
And one of the defining factors we all have is time. What you do with yours is up to you.
I personally make a choice every day that at the end of the day I will account for how I have spent my time.
It one of those things that I believe I owe myself because I don’t know about you, but I don’t wake up every morning to waste my time.
I want to look back at the end of the day and realize that I did something significant with my life, something that I will not regret at all.
That said here are life choices that you are making today that you will end up regretting ten years to come.

Life Choices You Will Surely Regret One Day

1. Wearing a mask just to please others
If what you are showing the world is not the real you, you are in for a rude shock ten years to come when it hits you that nobody really cares the kind of person you are. People want the real you not some image generated based on what social media is telling you.
You will regret more not living your life for yourself but for others. Because when you spend so much of your time concentrating on how everyone sees you or who they want you to be, eventually you will end up forgetting who you really are.
Never fear being judged by others. You know who you are and the one person you can never lie to is yourself.
The truth is you don’t have to be all perfect to inspire others. Instead, let them be inspired by how you choose to deal with your imperfections.
2. Allowing others to create dreams for you
One of the greatest life challenges is discovering who you are and the second is being contented and happy with what you discover.
Do you have people in your life who never appreciate the person you want to be? Are they always telling you that you should be this or this instead?
If they are there, it’s a good thing for you, because it means that you have learned how to be you.
Read On: An Open Letter To 20 Something Young Kenyans 
3. Tolerating negative company
Don’t allow someone else’s bad attitude to become your potion. Don’t let them influence you into becoming who they are. They can only pull that trigger if you hand them the gun.
Remember that keeping negative company is a choice you make and not really an obligation.
What would happen if you cut them loose? Sure they will say a few horrible things behind you back, but that okay because that where they belong, behind your back!
Learn to keep company with people who have the same aspirations as you. You can’t become who you were meant to be, if you have people pulling you back every time you make a step forward.
4. Being egotistical and selfish
The best tombstones are those that are filled with a life time of good character and loving deeds.
After your time has gone, those who will remember you most are those whose lives you touched. Those lives you added a little joy and told them that everything would be okay.
Strive to carve you name on the hearts of people instead of a stone. The accomplishments you have made for yourself end up dying with you, but the world will remember what you have done for others.
5. Avoiding change
They say that if you want to understand your past then you should look at your present and if you want to know what you future holds, look into the things you are doing now.
Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Make a decision today to let go of the old way of doing thing and you will position yourself for more success in the future.
6. Giving up when you experience a setback
I keep insisting that there is nothing like failure, just results. If things don’t work out the way you had hoped, don’t despair. Try a different angle.
Imagine all the successful people, business people and great leaders like that you know in the world. They all faced major setbacks but the difference is that they never gave up.
Don’t be that person who walks away the minute they face a challenge.
7. Micromanaging everything in life
Don’t wade through life ‘chocking the life’ of it. Sometimes, just relax and let things just happen without micromanaging them. Let go a little before you hold on too tight.
Take a deep breath because it is only when the dust settles that we can clearly see the trees.
The funny thing about life is that you don’t have to know exactly where you are headed for something great to happen.
Everything is in perfect order and it doesn’t matter if you understand it or not.
It just takes a little bit of time and then you will finally connect the dots.
8. Settling when you know you can do better
We have all see this everywhere, in relationships or careers where people settle even when they clearly know that they deserve better.
Sometimes you have to be knocked down a few times before you can stand up tall. Just don’t settle!
9. Procrastinating…waiting for tomorrow
The problem with most of us is that we always think that we have more time that we actually do. The saying that time waits for no one couldn’t be more accurate.
One day you will wake up and realize that there is not time to do the things that you always wanted to do.
And when that time comes, you will either have achieved all the goals you had set for yourself or you will have excuse as to why you never did.
Make every day count! Years go by and before you realize it, you have a bunch of other things that you are supposed to do.
10. Being lazy and wishy-washy
Stop going about life thinking that the world owes you something. In reality you owe the world.
Stop living in a fantasy and start doing things. Instead of a wish bone, why not develop a backbone and take responsibility of your life.
You were not put on this world to become useless. It’s too sad to just sit around and wait for somebody to do something one day. One day is now and that somebody is you!
As I mentioned, time is of the essence and what you do with yours today is up to you. But don’t waltz through life thinking that you are better than everyone else or that you dreams will just fall into place one day. They can only do so if you take charge of your life and avoid the “If only” 10 year after this.
Hi, thanks for reading. We would love to know you opinion on this article by leaving a comment below.
Lilian is a Communication Officer at Career Point Kenya. Get in touch though lilian@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke.