A free regret minimization framework that asks which choice you'd regret not making at 80, then checks your answer against the numbers.
5.0(1 rating)List your options, say what matters to you, and score each option. The matrix does the math, checks the answer, and asks the one question math can't: which choice would you regret not making?
Regret test
Picture yourself at 80, looking back. Which choice would you regret not making?
This free regret minimization framework asks one question about your decision: at 80, looking back, which choice would you regret not making?
It opens on the regret test, on a calm full-screen scene with sound if you want it, and then checks your answer against a weighted decision matrix.
It runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent anywhere unless you ask the AI.
What is the regret minimization framework?
The regret minimization framework is a way to make a big decision by imagining yourself at 80 and asking which choice you'd regret not making. It's Jeff Bezos's name for how he decided to leave his job and start Amazon in 1994.
In his words, from a 2001 interview:
I knew that if I failed I wouldn't regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried.
How to use the regret minimization framework
- Write your decision and your options.
- Open the regret test. Read the lines slowly, and sit with them for 60 seconds if you like.
- Pick the choice you'd regret not making, and write why in one line.
- Score your options on what matters, and see whether the math agrees.
- When it doesn't, the template says so. Ask what your scores are missing, or what your gut is afraid of.
When your gut and your scores disagree
Bezos used regret alone. The template adds the matrix, so you can see both. When they agree, you can act with confidence. When they don't, one of two things is going on:
- Your scores are missing something that matters, like freedom, meaning or who you want to become.
- Your regret is fear talking, and the scores are right.
Ali Abdaal used a twin of this test when he left medicine: fear-setting. Instead of picturing regret at 80, he pictured the worst case, which was going back to medicine a few years behind. It didn't look that bad, so he went.
Who is the regret minimization framework for?
It's for the decisions you'll remember:
- Regret minimization framework – quitting, moving, starting something, ending something
- Decision matrix template – the same tool, starting from your options
- Weighted decision matrix – when the details need weighing
- Free AI life coach – to talk it through as your future self
If you'd regret not trying, that's usually your answer.
Talk it through with your future self
FAQs about the regret minimization framework
Questions about the regret minimization framework? Here's what to know.
It's a way to decide by picturing yourself at 80 and asking which choice you'd regret not making.
Jeff Bezos named it when he decided to start Amazon in 1994.
Jeff Bezos described it in a 2001 interview with the Academy of Achievement.
He said he knew he wouldn't regret failing, but he might regret never having tried.
Regret minimization pictures your life at 80, while fear-setting pictures the worst case of a choice.
Both help you see a big decision more calmly.
Then ask what your scores are missing, or what your gut is afraid of.
The template shows both side by side so you can tell.
Yes, it stays in your browser.
It's only sent anywhere when you press an AI button.
I did.
I'm Navid Moazzez, and I made the regret minimization framework tool as one of my free tools on navid.me.
More about me.
Navid Moazzez
AI business strategist & AI OS builder
Navid Moazzez helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life.
Navid.me is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this site, I may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
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