The First Regret: “I Wish I Didn’t Spend So Much Time Working”
McFadden has said that many people look back and wish they hadn’t “worked their life away.”
Not because work is bad—but because it quietly expands until it crowds out everything else.
And in the final stretch of life, people don’t usually talk about inbox zero.
They talk about:
- The trips they delayed “until things slow down”
- The friends they kept meaning to call
- The hobbies they dropped because they felt “unproductive”
- The family moments they half-attended while mentally at work
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: most people aren’t choosing work over life on purpose.
They’re choosing what feels urgent today—and postponing what feels important.
And postponing becomes a habit.
But McFadden says the second regret comes up even more often.
It’s not about money, status, or achievement.
It’s about something people assume will always be there.
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