[Series: Midnight Tuning] A story about using AI to objectively view the weight of 'regret for not doing something'

"What if I fail?"
"I don't want to waste my time and effort."

When I try to start something new, I find myself hesitating like this.

I always agonize before making any kind of decision.

However, I don't think this "reason for being unable to move" is simply because I'm a coward.

The reason I fear failure is because I am trying to take the matter seriously.

It is precisely because I have a sincere desire not to regret treating it carelessly that I inevitably become cautious.

However, our minds tend to fall into a certain kind of "illusion" here.

While we overestimate the "mental damage of failure" or the "loss of time spent" right in front of us,

we underestimate the weight of the "regret for not doing it"—the feeling of "I should have done it back then"—that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.

As the term "loss aversion" in psychology suggests, it is said that humans are creatures who react more strongly to what they lose right in front of them than to what they might gain.

When this emotional brake is applied, I ask AI to act as a sounding board for me.

"I want to start this, but I can't move because I only think about the risks if I fail. Please organize this objectively."

Then, the AI objectively compares and presents the "temporary cost of failure" against the "long-term mental cost of looking back 5 or 10 years from now at what I didn't do."

The AI doesn't rush me.

It simply and calmly reflects the fact that "from a long-term perspective, the total mental cost is overwhelmingly lower if you try now and fail."

Seeing that unwavering logic, I feel the vision that was distorted by emotion suddenly clear up.

There is a saying that "the best time to start is now," and perhaps it is healthiest for one's mental well-being to act the very moment a passion is ignited in one's heart.

Besides, if you think about it calmly, "now" is the youngest moment you will ever be for the rest of your life.

You have the most energy and are the most capable of taking action.

When I think of it that way, the time spent standing still out of fear of failure feels a bit wasteful, and strangely, I feel more at ease.

If you're hesitant, just give it a try.
Even if you stumble, that experience will surely become a source of growth for you.

In that way, I am gradually lowering the hurdles to taking action by organizing the facts together with AI.

I am not looking to a machine for the answers to life.

However, because it unravels the heavy, heated emotion of regret from a cool, dispassionate perspective, I am able to face forward once again of my own volition.

When you feel like you might regret not doing something, how do you push yourself forward?