Transforming Regret Into Energy For Growth

Regret is a brutal energy leak. We’ve all felt that spiral where replaying the past steals the focus we need to change the future. Today, I walk through a clear, compassionate path to reclaim that energy and use it to move faster toward your goals, drawing on a practical lens from yogic philosophy—tamas, rajas, and sattva—to map how emotion turns into action.

We start by naming what regret does to the mind and body: heaviness, restless overcompensation, and burnout. From there, I break down seven common traps that keep us stuck—negative self-talk, fear of failure, self-forgiveness problems, overthinking, isolation, lack of clarity, and comparison—and show how each one diverts attention from the only place change happens: the present. Then we shift gears into an eight-step playbook for transforming mistakes into momentum. You’ll learn how to acknowledge regret without drowning in it, honor your story, extract specific lessons, reframe missteps as training data, practice self-compassion, build a small action plan, share to heal and inspire, and embrace growth as a continuous practice.

Along the way, I share personal examples from launching this new live format and being selective with guests, plus quotes that sharpen the mindset: “I never lose, I either win or learn,” and “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” The goal is simple and powerful—move your energy from stuck or frantic to calm and clear, where insight becomes direction and direction becomes results. If you’re ready to choose clarity over guilt and put your past to work for your future, you’ll leave with practical steps you can use today.

If this conversation helped, hit subscribe, share it with someone who’s carrying the weight of regret, and tell me: what did regret teach you, and what’s the one step you’re taking this week? Your story might be the spark someone else needs.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Purpose
• 0:39 Subscribe And Season Update
• 0:58 Format Changes And Live Shift
• 2:57 Solo Focus With Select Guests
• 3:44 Main Topic: Regret To Gratitude
• 3:58 Yogic Lens On Energy
• 4:47 Tamas: Stuck In The Past
• 5:47 Rajas: Restless Hustle
• 6:55 Sattva: Calm Insight
• 7:50 Clarity Restores Energy
• 8:45 When Energy Turns Harsh
• 9:48 Seven Common Struggles
• 12:09 Shift Events Into Lessons
• 12:37 Strategy 1: Acknowledge Regret
• 13:18 Strategy 2: Honor Your Story
• 14:09 Strategy 3: Identify Lessons
• 14:53 Strategy 4: Reframe Perspective
• 15:50 Strategy 5: Self Compassion
• 16:13 Strategy 6: Action Plan
• 16:32 Strategy 7: Share To Heal
• 17:03 Strategy 8: Embrace Growth
• 17:38 Choose Response Over Rumination
• 18:25 Reflection And Key Question
• 19:10 First Live Season Notes
• 19:53 Community Invitation
• 20:52 Closing And Subscribe CTA

Transcript

Welcome And Purpose

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi guys, my name is Fabio from Journey to Success and Welcome. The reality is that the moment you spend energy on regret, you have less left to move forward, okay? Less to move forward, to correct your missteps, and reach your goals a little faster. After all, you know, regrets consume a significant, a huge amount of energy. So today we're going to focus on how to use the right energy to understand what you might be missing in your path, alright, instead of uh living on regret. But before we go forward, as always, please subscribe. So I know this is the right direction to lead you guys, to drive you, to guide you towards your journey to success. And let's get started, alright? As always. So I'm gonna make some uh uh some promise here. First of all, we have welcomed our first two guests uh of uh of of this current season, and uh I want to still invite thoughtful and mindful people who can share unknown lessons and their success stories to us, okay? Uh that that's literally fundamental for our personal growth. What do you know, community of Soupstack, is that I am a podcaster for around three years, but from now on I decided to to make my my you know my podcasting in in a live session, basically, and then I will translate translate this uh video live into audio, and that audio is gonna be to my podcast. Before it was more like uh deposit, and this is new, this is my first time that I do it in this way, so that's how it goes. Let's see how it goes, and I'm sure it's gonna go well. And another thing that I want to say before to start, I initially thought this season would be dedicated entirely to our guests. This is uh our mine, sixth season that starts with uh Soupstack, and as I mentioned a few episodes ago, in the episodes, I my idea was just to invite mindful people, right? However, I'm already missing the solo podcast format. I literally love to do solo podcasting, and uh I've noticed also that I'm very selective about picking the right guests for journey to success. So I believe the call of the season will be mainly solo episodes with only me, but with some mindful guests join us occasionally to share their insights, all right? And uh I'll I'll I will experiment a little bit as well. So we're doing everything live for now. And and uh hi team with trauma, how are you? I really hope you're good, guys. And uh we are ready tier team people, so let's see how it goes. And let's go back to our main topic. So, so how to transform regret into gratitude, first of all, how to transform regret into a teaching lessons and how this shift can lead to a more fulfilling life. First of all, it's not all about regret, it is also literally about everything we go through in life. Alright, in Indian philosophy, I studied a little bit of Indian philosophy today for this topic, and especially in the yogic aspect, we have tamas, rajas, and sattva, which describe the qualities of energy moving through a person, okay? Thamas is uh heavy and uh obscuring energy, it creates inertia, confusion, and uh attachment to the past. So when regret sits in tamas, it becomes introspection, study, self-judgment. Okay, so energy is trapped basically, nothing changes. We we spiral on the situation. And just an example, you may be writing an article for your soup stack, for example, and maybe this article has received a lot of criticism. Okay, you may not know how to escape this cycle of negativity. That's dhamas. Then we have rajas. Rajas is uh an active but unstable energy, okay? It drives urgency, ambition, emotional reaction. When regrets shift into Rajas, it becomes overcompensation. So astling is uh unnecessary, you know, because we have this uh erratic energy, restless behavior. So movement happens, but clarity is missing. So energy is consumed quickly. Okay, for example, in my case, like to make a personal example, right now I'm in the Raja stage. So I'm uh hastling a lot and try to understand the best ways to bring traffic to Soupstack and to my podcast journey to success. So I go through a lot of trial and error right now. Okay, I wake up at 5:30 in the morning, my days are spent trying to quickly understand my failure so I can move forward, and I focus on reducing the gap basically between my mistakes and aim to reach my goals more efficiently and faster. Okay, that's what I do. But of course, the evening I'm exhausted. Okay, and uh I think the important thing is to be aware of this stage. A lot of people are not aware of this stage. It's important to be aware of this stage and acknowledge that it has not to last forever. It cannot actually. It cannot. We are still human beings, all right? We're not robots. And in this situation, it is crucial to avoid falling into a state of regret. Okay, when you go through many trials and uh errors as I as I do right now, it is essential to find yourself regretting past decisions, all right? However, staying on regrets can drain your energy. So we need to be careful about that and move forward. That's the the full point. Then we have sattva. Sattva is uh clear energy, clear, balanced energy, it brings awareness, wisdom, you know, calm. Where regret is processed through sattva, it turns into insight, all right? It's not even regret anymore, it's just reflection. And uh the the mistake that you did is acknowledged without in indications. There is not a real uh thoughtful pressure, you know, to understand your regrets because everything is calm. You already acknowledge your your mistake, you you regretted enough, and that's it, okay? So the lesson is integrated. So energy is no longer lost, it's not moving uh around, it just becomes directional. It it is steady, all right. So growth happens when uh regret, guys, moves from uh tamas or rajas, if you're not careful, into sattva, because clarity restores usable energy instead of drain it, okay? Now returning to this side of our world, we did a little bit of yogic culture. So it is important to understand this concept because when the energy you use becomes violent, alright, becomes violent and not harmonious, the case of regret, regret, or so many negative or impactful cases, anyway, it's not all about regret regret, it can be a fight, it can be grief. Basically, you cannot harness that energy to achieve your goals or to correct your missteps, alright? That's the full point. So when people struggle to manage negative events or situations, guys, they cannot redirect their energy toward personal growth and happiness. But the question is what are the common strangles in this case? So the common strangles that literally prevent us from reaching our goal because of negative events and especially regret in this case is uh negative self-talk. Negative self-talk, so regret can lead to arch self-criticism, okay, making individuals feel inferior or unworthy, which can slow their progress. The second one is the fear of failure. As always, people may avoid pursuing opportunities or taking risks because of past mistakes, mistakes, guys, leading to a sort of stagnation that means chance for growth. Number three is inability to forgive themselves, okay? Holding on to past regrets can prevent individuals from moving forward, okay? As they may stay on their choices instead of letting go. So they just overthink. We overthink when uh when we regret so much, okay? So the energy stays either, we don't we don't move forward. And number four, overthinking. That's of course it's a consequence, all right? So constantly replaying past actions in your brain in a more obsessive uh way can consume mental energy, causing anxiety and preventing uh focus on the present, all right. Number five, we have the isolation. So regret can uh lead to shrinking from relationships or social situations with feelings of loneliness and frustrating emotional support. Number six, we have a lack of clarity. Of course, if you regret so much, everything is cloudy, you know. So regret can cloud judgment and make it difficult to identify, identify what truly makes you happy, okay? Complete complicating uh decision making moving forward. And then number seven is comparison, of course, comparison to others. Regret may unfortunately may arise from uh comparing oneself to others, to other people, resulting in reduced self-esteem, which can slow grow. So these are seven situations where you know unfortunately they can uh prevent you to reach your goal because uh somehow you are regretting something. But the the the good news is that addressing these uh strangles, you know, once you acknowledge them, what happened uh it involves sorry, it involves self-reflection, seeking support and focusing on the present future rather than living on the past, all right? So you just uh think how to acknowledge better your strangles and you know that somehow you need to move forward. So once you acknowledge all these strangles, it is important to shift these uh events into lessons as a powerful powerful way to turn past experiences into grow opportunities. Okay, I'm gonna repeat again. So once you knowledge of all these strangles, you know all these uh situations that make you feel really, really, really bad, it's important to shift uh all the events into different lessons, uh positive lessons as a powerful way to turn past experiences into grow opportunities. Very important. So, what are the effective strategies to achieve this? First strategy is acknowledge your regret, of course. That's the the the the first point. You need to start openly acknowledging your regrets instead of suppressing them. Okay, this could mean uh you know uh writing them down, uh you know the writing technique is always helpful to make a great reflection and to acknowledge your regrets, or discussing also discussing them with someone you trust, alright? So by confronting your feelings, because that's what we're talking about at the end, you begin the process of understanding and learning from them. Number two, understand the importance of your story, all right. I uh any of us regretted something, okay? I also regret different things, you know. Uh I once regretted not pursuing a specific career path, you know what I mean? Uh everyone has these things, but circumstances led me in a different direction, one that I now love. My podcast, you know, my personal growth path, knowing that somehow I'm I'm helping someone here. So it is essential for for you guys to understand how your own stories shape who you are and and the paths you you take at the end. Okay. Number three, identify the lessons. Reflect on what you could learn from each regret. Okay, ask yourself questions like what did I learn from this experience? Or how has this shaped who I am today? There is always something that happened in our past, and and and eventually we regret it, all right, but somehow indirectly and consciently shaped us to a different form, a different version of ourselves. So this can provide valuable insights. So all these questions can provide uh valuable insights. So right, Nelson Mandela used to say, I never lose, I either win or learn. And this mindset is beautiful, you know. So emphasize that even our regrets can be powerful teachers, okay? Number four, shifts your perspective. Reframe your mindset by viewing regrets as uh necessary steps in your journey, okay? So instead of seeing them as failures, consider them as experiences that are fundamental to your personal growth. You can also see them as failures. There is no problem to see things as uh missteps. Actually, that's another story, but acknowledging your missteps make you reach your goal faster, okay? But we're gonna cover another day. But the point is um consider all of them as experiences that are fundamental to your personal growth, okay? Very, very important. Number five, practice self-compassion. Be kind to yourself regarding what you did, regarding past decisions. Understand that everyone makes mistakes, guys, and that self-compassion can help turn regrets into lessons rather than uh barriers. Okay. Number six, create an action plan. So once you have uh identified the lessons, think about how you can apply them moving forward, all right? So make a line a specific specific steps to reach certain lessons learned from your uh regrets. And number seven, share your experiences, of course, with people you trust. So discussing your regrets and the lesson learn with you know with people, the people you trust, can provide both clarity and healing. Sharing can also inspire others to see their own regrets differently, guys. Okay, remember that. And here I have another quote from uh Ofra. She says, turn your wounds into wisdom. Also, very beautiful, you know. Sharing your story can not only help you, you know, heal, but also empower those around you, inspire the people around you, okay? So remember that. Number eight, I think is the last one, embrace growth. Lastly, recognize that regret can play a role in your continuous growth, okay? So instead of getting stuck in the past, that's what we want to avoid, focus on how you can use your past experiences to make better choices in the future. So by employing all these strategies, we can transform regrets into valuable lessons that enunch our lives and uh contribute to our personal narrative, our personal story, our personal personal growth. And remember, it's not just about what happened anyway, but how we choose to respond and learn from it, moving forward over and over again. Okay, everyone regrets something in life, guys. That's the truth. And I certainly have as well, even now, if I think about it, if I think about an episode that I may heart someone emotionally close to me, you know, during a fight. And the truth is that yeah, we're human beings, you know. We can truly regret and feel sad about any bad choices we make. Everyone can relate to that, anyone can be good at it. But the important question is what can I do with this? How can I make things better, you know? So it is essential to reflect on what we can learn from our past actions or the lack of actions when it's about regret, in order to move forward in a direction that makes us proud, that it makes us a second version of ourselves. So to do this, we need to shift our energy toward the more positive aspect of our story, guys, okay? Permitting us to build a better narrative, a better story, and become a better version of ourselves. Now, before we wrap up, this is my first of all, again, uh for all the people that came now, this is my first episode podcast in life. Alright. So the sixth season started with this new formula. Let's see if we uh if I'm gonna continue or not. So it depends, but let's see if we have some questions before we wrap up. No, just people listen, okay? Just I'm very very grateful you are here, guys. And uh yes, the time with trauma. Hello. Think I um yes, I greeting you uh before, and uh yeah. Well, I want to hear from from you in the comment then uh uh what regret taught you the most about yourself, okay. What lesson changed the way you direct your energy today? Send me a message, share your story, you know, connect with me on Soupstack, send me a DM, uh everything. I read everything, and I genuinely love to hear your perspective. Just uh uh a small note the reason why I decided to jump on uh um Soupstack. So basically, journey to success is my my podcast, it's my core. Uh but I miss a little bit the feeling to um to feel the community. So don't be afraid, like, talk to me, send me a message, uh you know, um write uh some comment, I will hear everything, I will I will read um as uh as you deserve. So if this episode resonated with you guys, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss the next one. And if you know someone who is stuck in regret or carrying the weight of past choices, share this episode with them. It might be precisely what they need right now. Thank you so much for being here on Journey to Success. Remember, growth begins when we choose clarity over guilt. Okay, I'll see you in the next episode. Cheers.