How do you prevent future remorse for not following through on your responsibilities today? You feel regret and remorse when you realize you were not careful enough, judicious enough, or disciplined enough. You slack off in class, avoid exercise, or don’t put in the effort at work. You prioritize immediate gratification above long-term benefits. Dessert first, please! The consequences always arrive. For every cause, there is an effect, and often times, we are shocked at how severe and bothersome the results are that our carelessness has caused. Let’s prevent it from being our future selves.

Step 1: Think about your most desired outcomes, the ones you’re most excited about right now. #

Step 2: Make sure your outcome fits the criteria of being… #

Realistic Positive Self-Reliant Observable Context-Dependent Measurable Access to Resources Ecological If your outcome is not truly well-formed, use the Well-Defined Outcomes pattern before continuing.

Step 3: Recall an experience from your past that is still causing you to feel regret or remorse for something you haven’t done but could have. #

Regret for a missed opportunity or procrastinating on an important task that resulted in failure

Step 4: Anchor the remorse experience. #

Step 5: Recall a rewarding experience in your past in which you used your discipline to achieve a worthy goal, such as studying for an important exam and doing your best, or training for and then running a marathon, or attending a network event despite feeling tired and uninterested in socializing, and ending up in new prosperous relationships with interesting people. #

Step 6: Anchor the satisfying experience. #

Step 7: Establish two physical locations on the floor-one for Remorse and one for Satisfaction. #

Step 8: Stand on the Remorse spot, close your eyes, take a deep breath and enter your timeline. #

a. Fast forward your timeline to the same day as today, a year ahead. b. Turn around on your timeline, facing the past and looking at the present day. c. Fire the Remorse anchor. d. Say, “If only I had done the work!” e. Allow the images and conclusions of the work you supposedly haven’t done to come up on the timeline, showing how you slacked off instead of working on your outcome. Consider real-life present-day distractions that can realistically interfere with your plans. f. For each one of those images, associate them with them and describe and declare them this way: “I did too much X and not enough Y.” For example, “I spent too much time on social media and not enough time on reaching out to potential clients.” g. Fire the anchor again, for each of the images, and see if you can enhance it and increase the emotional impact.

Step 9: Open your eyes, take a deep breath, and tell yourself that you would rather never feel these feelings again. #

Step 10: Now take a step back, out of the Remorse spot, and reorient your body to face the Satisfaction spot. #

Tell yourself that this is the moment of decision to select a path that is not even remotely related to the horrible feelings you experienced a moment ago.

Step 11: Step into the Satisfaction spot, close your eyes and enter the timeline again. #

a. Fast forward your timeline to the same day as today, a year ahead. b. Turn around on your timeline, facing the past and looking at the present day. c. Fire the Satisfaction anchor. d. Say, “Wow, I am so relieved I did the work!” Enhance the auditory sub-modalities to match excitement and joy. e. Allow the images and conclusions of the work you have supposedly done to come up on the timeline, showing how you actively and consciously chose to do important work instead of falling for distractions. Consider present-day potential distractions that may have interfered with your productivity. f. For each one of those mages, dissociate (third perceptual position), and describe the moment of useful choice this way: “I’m really glad I chose to do X instead of Y! I am so much better off today because of it.” For example, “I’m really glad I chose to email 10 more potential clients instead of wasting time on social media looking at other people’s fake, make-believe adventures. I am so much better off today because of it.” g. Fire the satisfaction anchor again and again, for each of the better choice images, and enhance the visual sub-modalities to increase the emotional impact. Remember to keep the images dissociated so you can see yourself in them but not experience being in them. This is a crucial distinction.

Step 12: Open your eyes, take a deep breath, and tell yourself that these are the feelings you would rather feel a year from now. #

Step 13: Now take a step back, out of the Satisfaction spot. #

Tell yourself that this is the moment of decision to select a path that is most likely to get you closer to realizing your dreams.

Step 14: Close your eyes again, and enter your timeline for the last time. #

Fast forward your timeline to the same day as today, a year ahead. Turn around on your timeline, facing the past and looking at the present day. Fire the satisfaction anchor.

Step 15: Turn around on your timeline, facing the future, and the present day is a year behind you. #

Move backward rapidly on your timeline, stopping for a brief moment at each of five general “milestones” that signal your progression towards satisfaction. End the movement in the present day and exit the timeline. Open your eyes, take a deep breath and break the state.

Step 16: You ought to repeat steps 14 and 15 once a day for the next 3 weeks. #

If you feel discouraged about your progress towards your outcome or somewhat lazy, repeat the entire pattern.