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Comment by foobarbecue | Hacker News Reader

Reading this made me realize that my regret usually targets the previous hours or day. Generally, if I look at the last month or year or decade, I'm impressed with what I've accomplished. And yet I'm always disappointed with my immediate past. I think this short-term regret may be the reaction mass I'm igniting to propel me forward.

To borrow a phrase from finnthehuman above, this short-term regret is the fire lit under my ass. I think I'd better ignore Zack's article and keep feeding it. It drives my overall happiness.

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"We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction."

- Bill Gates

> Generally, if I look at the last month or year or decade, I'm impressed with what I've accomplished.

This is important for measuring personal progress. I like to think about it like a stock chart. Would I ever measure a company's performance just by looking at the 1 day or 5 day view? Nope. I need a bigger picture to get a better idea of the overall trend. I think measuring yourself on areas of improvement is no different. Some days will be great and some won't. But how are you trending across months/years? Apply to learning art, exercising, etc.

I didn't have any regrets until I sat and watched cryptocoin for 6 years and did nothing about it.

I have the corresponding regret of wishing I got in six years ago instead of four years ago. Not that I'm doing bad now, by any means. It's just a relative success kind of thing.

meh, I got in 2012 and still regret not putting in more, spending too much time mining (rather than just investing), not having enough resources to make as much of a difference to my future, getting into Ethereum only this year, keeping other weirdo coins that are worth nothing now, etc.

If you got in 6 years ago, you might just have a different set of regrets and blessings.

If you had gotten in 6 years ago, you'd probably regret selling it all 4 or 5 years ago. Or perhaps you'd regret not selling, if the bubble pops tomorrow. Hindsight is 20/20.

On the other hand, I don't regret not gambling on Bitcoin in the last six years. It's an interesting technology but the price is driven by pure speculation rather than any significant demand.

You are still incredibly early to the space. Most people in the world don't hold any crypto nor do they even know what it is.

Many famous investors and entrepreneurs who came to Silicon Valley in the early 1990s thought they had "missed it." Everything up until now is a sunk cost. Operate accordingly.

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