9.26 Midori Ito: Do All You Can

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“I have no regrets because I know I did my best — all I could do.” - Midori Ito

Do you have any regrets?

Regrets are the feelings we have when we look back at something we did — or didn’t do — and wish we had acted differently. They usually come with thoughts like:

  • “I should have tried harder.”

  • “I shouldn’t have given up so quickly.”

  • “If only I had spoken up.”

In other words, regret is the weight of missed effort, missed choices, or missed chances.

Midori Ito is a retired Japanese figure skater, widely considered one of the greatest in the history of women’s skating. She is the first woman ever to land a triple Axel in competition, and at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, she was the first woman to successfully perform seven triple jumps in the free skate.

She once said, “I have no regrets because I know I did my best—all I could do.”

Midori Ito reminds us that the real measure of success isn’t just the scoreboard — it’s whether you gave everything you had in preparation and performance. If you give your best effort, you can walk away without regrets, no matter the outcome. Regret usually comes when we know we held back, cut corners, or didn’t prepare fully.

Question of the Day: When is it harder for you to give your full effort—during practice or competition/class? How can you push yourself to leave with “no regrets” in both?

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