This isn't absolute though. It is often the case one regrets more things they haven't done, than things they've attempted which then failed. Saying effective

This isn't absolute though. It is often the case one regrets more things they haven't done, than things they've attempted which then failed. Saying effective "No"s implies the ability to then erase that No from your mind completely. This minute you have even the slightest "but what if", you haven't really prioritised anything. You've just added another daily guilt. There are some things that I was genuinely invested in that I've eventually said "No" to with extreme ease, and have never looked back. But there are others that still haunt me to this day. There must be more to the "No" recipe to make it effective, and I wouldn't be able to tell you what it is. But I know for a fact it's not "as simple as saying no". PS. I think one of the pieces of that puzzle would be simple "I would like to be able to do X" where you eventually realise the new you doesn't really care about X that much after all, vs "I promise to myself to do X", where not doing it then feels like a broken promise, and letting yourself down.