BOOK REVIEW : The Power of Regret Author : Daniel H . Pink Riverhead Books ( 2022 )
We can all agree that the last five years have been a uniquely challenging time for all Americans , and the health care system has reactively evolved in response . Especially as we age , we tend to take a closer look at our status in life and ruminate about how prior decisions impact our current lives and careers . Not specific to medicine , having regret is healthy , universal and an integral part of being human . In his 2022 book , Daniel H . Pink dives in to this common emotion and uses surveys and research science to help make sense of regret and how it can instruct us . The book has already been widely read and referenced in medical circles , especially involving motivations and improving our decision-making as doctors . An example is the referenced discussion by our GLMS President Dr . Patricia Purcell in her presidential article from the January edition of Louisville Medicine . Dr . Purcell mentions embracing regret
32 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE by JOHN J . WERNERT , MD , MHA
and seeing it as “ positive ” and an opportunity “… that propels us forward armed with the knowledge gleaned from less-than-ideal outcomes .” ( Louisville Medicine , Vol . 71 , No . 8 , Pg . 4 ).
In the first four chapters of Mr . Pink ’ s new book , he uses psychology , neuroscience and biology to challenge misconceptions about such emotions and human behavior . He frequently references his own World Regret Survey which collected responses from more than 16,000 people in 105 countries – and gives us repeated samples from this survey in his book . He reasons that regret makes us better emotional “ thinkers ” and as he summarizes , “ Don ’ t dodge emotions . Don ’ t wallow in them either . Confront them . Use them as a catalyst for future behavior .”
Part Two is a seven-chapter section outlining the “ Four Core Regrets ,” and because human life spreads across multiple domains , our regrets straddle these four domains as well . Regret ( like language ) has both a surface structure and a deep structure and calls on us to incorporate these feelings and bring them in to harmony . He goes on to describe the four “ Deep Structure Regrets :”