--- title: These are the Top 5 Career Regrets description: Most people regret about the things they didn't do than the things they did canonical: https://time.com/3640738/5-career-regrets-2/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-30T05:01:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:05:53.490Z article:section: Ideas og:title: These are the Top 5 Career Regrets og:description: Most people regret about the things they didn't do than the things they did og:url: https://time.com/3640738/5-career-regrets-2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a4ee0fabe941d75/69876ff13c16393472450c24/silhouette-man-room.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: silhouette-man-room og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These are the Top 5 Career Regrets twitter:description: Most people regret about the things they didn't do than the things they did twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a4ee0fabe941d75/69876ff13c16393472450c24/silhouette-man-room.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Are the Top 5 Career Regrets by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Dec 30, 2014 5:01 AM CUT  Silhouette of businessman standing in office Silhouette of businessman standing in officeGetty Images by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Dec 30, 2014 5:01 AM CUT To live without regrets, first you need to know what the most common ones are. Over at [Harvard Business Review](http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/12/the%5Ftop%5Ffive%5Fcareer%5Fregrets.html "undefined"), Daniel Gulati discusses his informal study of people’s biggest regrets about their career. He talked to professionals who ranged in age and represented a variety of different industries but five ideas came up again and again: ## **1\. I wish I hadn’t taken the job for the money.** “By far the biggest regret of all came from those who opted into high-paying but ultimately dissatisfying careers.” ## **2\. I wish I had quit earlier.** “Almost uniformly, those who had actually quit their jobs to pursue their passions wished they had done so earlier.” ## **3\. I wish I had the confidence to start my own business.** “A recent study found that 70% of workers wished their current job would help them with starting a business in the future, yet only 15% said they had what it takes to actually venture out on their own.” ## **4\. I wish I had used my time at school more productively.** “Although more students are attending college, many of the group’s participants wished they had thoughtfully parlayed their school years into a truly rewarding first job.” ## **5\. I wish I had acted on my career hunches.** “Several individuals recounted windows of opportunity in their careers, or as one professional described, ‘now-or-never moments.’” ## **What else do we know about regret?** I’ve posted about research into the subject of regret before. So what do we regret the most? * You’re more likely to [regret the things you didn’t do](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-do-we-regret-the-most "undefined") than the things you did. (The split is about [75/25](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-are-we-most-likely-to-regret "undefined").) * [Education was the biggest inducer of regret](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-do-we-regret-most-why "undefined"), followed by career, romance, parenting, the self, and leisure. * You’re more likely to [regret purchasing things](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-do-we-regret-buying-what-do-we-regret-no "undefined"). You’re more likely to regret _not_ purchasing experiences. ## **What do people regret the most before they die?** [Bronnie Ware](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/140194065X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=140194065X&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined") worked in palliative care for many years, tending to people during the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. A handful of themes cropped up in the things they regretted during their final days: **1\. “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”** **2\. “I wish I didn’t work so hard.”** **3\. “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”** **4\. “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”** **5\. “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”** To them, these were regrets. For you, this can be a checklist of what not to do. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/12/top-career-regrets/ "undefined")**_._** **_J_** **_oin over 145,000 readers and get a free weekly email update_** [**_here_**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD "undefined")**_._** Related posts: * [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/ "undefined") * [What 10 things should you do every day to improve your life?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/what-10-things-should-you-do-every-day-to-imp/ "undefined") * [How To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple Emails](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/make-your-life-better/ "undefined") _Read next:_ [_This Body Language Makes You Look Like a Leader_](http://time.com/3640682/body-language-leader/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3640738/5-career-regrets-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3640738/5-career-regrets-2/"},"headline":"These Are the Top 5 Career Regrets","datePublished":"2014-12-30T05:01:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:05:53.490Z","description":"Most people regret about the things they didn't do than the things they did","url":"https://time.com/3640738/5-career-regrets-2/","keywords":["Psychology","Careers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a4ee0fabe941d75/69876ff13c16393472450c24/silhouette-man-room.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1a4ee0fabe941d75/69876ff13c16393472450c24/silhouette-man-room.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"silhouette-man-room","caption":"silhouette-man-room","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3640738/5-career-regrets-2/","name":"These Are the Top 5 Career Regrets"}}]}] ```