The Top 10 Regrets in Life By Those About to Die

The Top 10 Regrets in Life By Those About to Die

1. “Never pursuing dreams and aspirations”

The number one regret we found that people have on their death beds is that they were never brave enough to pursue their dreams, but settled for what others expected of them. When they look back at their lives, they tend to recall their unreached goals and aspirations. They are often haunted by decisions that resulted in the lives they ended up with.
While you still have a lot of years to live, be sure to make some time for reaching your dreams. Start working toward your goals now; don’t keep putting things off until it’s too late.

2. “I worked too much and never made time for my family”

Excessive dedication to work causes a person to spend less time with their loved ones. Parents can even miss out on the lives of their children, because they spent their best years pursuing careers and making money.
Everybody needs to work to generate income, and money is necessary to sustain our lifestyles. But don’t ever sacrifice your family time just to make more money. It would do you good to determine what is really important. Do away with unnecessary expenses and things that only crowd your life – this will make room for improved relationships and better lifestyle choices.

3. “I should have made more time for my friends”

When health and youth have faded, people realize what are truly valuable – they find that all their income and achievements amount to nothing in the end. What really matters in those last few moments are the people who are dear to them. At that time, they tend to miss their friends.
It’s so easy to get lost in the daily grind that you forget to take care of your relationships. If you don’t intentionally stay in touch, you may lose contact with your friends through the years.

4. “I should have said ‘I Love You’ a lot more”

The importance of love becomes more pronounced towards the end of life. At this time, unreturned of love will also be more painful.
It can be hard to tell someone that you love them, especially if you fear rejection. But not being able to express those feelings will leave an unsettled need in you, and possibly affect all future relationships. If you are afraid of getting hurt, remember that it’s better to make your love known than to spend the rest of your life dwelling on what could have been.

5. “I should have spoken my mind instead of holding back and resenting things”

A lot of people choose not to confront those who offend them, thinking that this would keep things civil. In truth, suppressing anger breeds bitterness, which leads to various diseases. Harboring bitterness also makes you emotionally crippled and prevents you from fulfilling your true potential.
If you want to have healthy relationships, honesty and confrontation are necessary. The common misconception about confrontation is that it creates division. In reality, if it’s done kindly and constructively, confrontation deepens mutual respect and understanding. When you express negative emotions properly, it also allows you to let go of the resentment so you don’t have to carry it for the rest of your life.

6. “I should have been the bigger person and resolved my conflicts”

A lot of times, death beds and funerals are more miserable because of broken relationships that were never restored. Relationships are ruined when misunderstandings are not dealt with immediately; this may result in a lifetime of hostility.
Conflicts are a part of life; you can’t avoid them, but you should never let your anger last for more than a day. Choose to forgive. Right the wrongs that you can, while you can.

7. “I wish I had children”

As people age, they often feel lonely and long for the company of their sons and daughters. Those who never had children often have regrets about having no one to comfort them or inherit their legacy.
With today’s modern thinking, kids may be viewed as inconveniences or hindrances to pursuing your goals. But keep in mind that your children will be the ones to show you love when you are old. They will also be the ones to whom you will entrust everything you’ve worked hard for after you’re gone.

8. “I should have saved more money for my retirement”

Failing to plan for the retirement years leaves people destitute in their old age. When that happens, their last moments on earth can be very difficult and miserable.
While you are young, you might not yet grasp the reality of retirement, but it’s important to make a plan for yourself. Be careful not to spend too much on things you think you need now; think about providing a comfortable life for yourself in the future.

9. “Not having the courage to live truthfully”

Looking back, people would wonder whether things would have been better if they were truly honest about who they really are. They think about the distress they caused themselves and others by pretending to be someone they’re not. You will naturally have concerns about whether people would reject you or accept you if you came clean; you might find it easier to compromise yourself just to be liked or loved. There are some situations when things need to be kept hidden, but honesty is generally admired. If you are reviled for who you really are, then that’s how you can determine the people who really love you. If you don’t yet have the courage to be truthful to others, you can start being truthful to yourself.

10. “Happiness is always a choice, I wish I knew that earlier”

People rarely realize that they can choose to be happy. It’s so easy to play the victim of circumstance and prevent yourself from moving on in your life. You tend to settle for mediocrity because it’s familiar; you pretend to be content because you’re too afraid to explore.
Make a choice to have a happy life. Be unafraid of change, and don’t worry about what others think of you. Learn to relax and appreciate the good things.

Social media for recruitment

Social media for recruitment

 

Gone are the days when companies had to hunt for prospective employees on traditional channels like employment exchanges or classified advertisements. An approach more direct and focused has emerged with the ever-expanding reach of social media. Looking for a sales rep? Go find him on a common interest group on Facebook. Looking for a leadership coach? Hunt for interesting tweets to find the person behind the one-line wit. Social media helps you find prospective employees.

“We believe that social networking is really just the Web becoming a tool that fosters more interaction. The future likely includes more rich media on any device (and employees will have many) allowing people to communicate, share and digest more information any time they want and about virtually every aspect of their lives. The most effective use of social media as a tool is not merely for marketing, public relations or even for just effective customer support but as a means to connect directly and engage with current and prospective employees,” says Aadil Bandukwala, India - talent acquisition advisor, social media and community professional, Dell India.

How would one compare it against traditional tools of recruitment? “Traditional tools of recruitment enabled leaders to rely on their gut instinct when making hiring decisions and whether they liked someone personally was a major influence. The traditional hiring metrics, including quality of the cover letter and interview, compete in importance with the personal preferences of the hiring manager. The employers base hiring preferences on the applicant’s personality, sometimes even more than on the hard skills an applicant brings to the table. The social media is a more targeted approach. It helps you focus on the things that actually matters while in a job. Though it limits the gut instinct recruitment of instinctive leaders,” says Urvashi Bahuguna Sahay, founder and CEO, Excluzen.

Then, there are also those who feel that comparing social media to traditional media is like comparing apples and oranges. “How many candidates do you have in your database? Whatever the number is, it doesn't come close to how many potential candidates are on Facebook and Linkedin. Hence, traditional tools cannot be compared to the social media tools as it is always better to have a integrated 360 degree approach and evolve, adapt and change to newer ways,” says T Muralidharan, managing director, TMIe2EAcademy.

That said, social media has its own set of challenges. Certain precautions must be taken when recruiting through social media. “An organisation needs to take utmost care when its employees engage on its behalf on social media platforms. An organisation needs to ‘empower’ its employees to make sure that both from a recruiting perspective and from a candidate’s experience touch point, the end-to-end process is seamless and delivers on the set expectations. To ‘empower’ its employees, an organisation needs to do two things:

• Have a social media strategy in place so that the designated individuals have a ground to fall back on and revert to. Invest in training its employees on different social media platforms. Says Bandukwala, “At Dell, we have a social media university that renders certifications across different platforms to employees once they complete their training. This way, employees are confident of what and how they need to communicate across social media and tailor specific messages relevant to their target audiences.”

• Have a social media policy in place – You want your employees to essentially use social media the right away – thereby it is imperative that a social media policy be in place that tells employees that they need to respect privacy, protect information and follow the law. Based on the organisational culture, dynamics and people policy, a social media policy can be rolled out which employees can be encouraged to follow,” adds Bandukwala.

Further adding to the list of precautions is Muralidharan, who feels, “The HR should be careful while scanning and recruiting on social media. They should understand that social media websites are basically meant to socialise with peer groups and should understand how to collect the resume details of the candidate on social networking websites. The recent case in US where companies started asking Facebook user ids and passwords from prospective employees created a rage and a negative impact on such companies. The human resource should not dig deep into social media profiles of the candidates while hiring but can use to cross-check for the authenticity of the profile. The HR should also keep in mind that simultaneously the candidate is visiting the company profile and also the HR profile, observing their qualifications, achievements before attending an interview, which is challenging for an HR, if he doesn't know much about the candidate.”

Final word of advice to social media tappers? Know what you are getting into. Create the right image. And trust your instinct with people!