I Might Regret This...

Daniel Pink identified that there are 4 Core Regrets that nearly all humans share

Foundation regrets ‘If only I had done the work’

Boldness regrets ‘If only I had taken that chance’

Moral regrets ‘If only I had done the right thing’

Connection regrets ‘if only I had reached out’

When we understand this, we can craft ideas, stories and angles that use this knowledge of regret to move people to want to work with us

This isn’t making them feel like shit for not doing things in the past - it’s using how the brain operates to help people who see the value in working with you, get off the fence and sign up

These regrets are based around biases, which show you how you should think about your ideas that you share

Foundation regrets are based around ‘Hyperbolic Discounting’ - we undervalue the future. Which means that as coaches, we must make the future feel like the present.

Boldness regrets centre on the ‘Omission Bias’ - People prefer inaction to action, unless you can highlight that their inaction is also a choice. They’re not just not acting, they’re choosing to not act.

Moral regrets come from ‘Cognitive Dissonance’ - the gap between who people say they are, and what they actually do

And Connection regrets, which come from ‘The Need to Belong’ - we fear social exclusion more than anything else.

Highlight why clients should care about what you do now, what the (actual) cost of not doing is, the gap between what they say and do, and the identity they’re missing out on?

You’ll find your ideas resonating more, and also moving people to action more.