"Hindsight is 20/20"

"Would-a, Should-a, Could-a!" How many times have you looked backwards in life to realize that things today would really be different if I "Would-a, or Should-a, or Could-a" only handled a situation in a manner other than the way it was handled? Is the economy affording us too much time to re-examine issues long since put to bed, only to pine away for an outcome that might have us in a different position today? It certainly has for me!

Not operating at full capacity and having excessive time on our hands, we tend to re-play life situations under the microscope. I have found myself recently looking back at project interviews dissecting and micro-analyzing every phrase that was uttered, trying to understand if we said or did anything to "spook" the deal.  I continually find that my business partner and I are consistently plainspoken - simply espousing the plain unvarnished truth, and sharing how our skill set might help the intended project. We haven't over promised anything! Yet it seems our competition largely cannot make the same claim....

"Desperate people do desperate things!" We live in a world where a lot of people find it acceptable to say or do whatever is necessary to get a signed contract. 'Why not' they reason - once the contract is signed it's very hard to get out of it! And it is! Common is the conversation where we hear damaged homeowners describe Contractors who have over promised and under delivered!

I like to live in the world of "no regrets." That is to say simply that I want my decisions to always reflect my position of never regretting my actions or speech. Doesn't alway happen that way, but the majority of the time I am left with the feeling that I did the right thing. My benchmark is quite simple - did I say or do anything that I wish I had not said or done; and did I not say or do anything that I wish I would have said or done?!! If my answer to these questions is "no," then I have no regrets.

The tapestry of life seems so much clearer when we look backwards. Trouble is, you can't move forward if you're always looking backwards!