“I didn’t think it would matter” is how a lot of regrets start.

Regret usually begins with something small done on the assumption that nothing was attached to it: a message, a form not sent, a lift accepted, a thing borrowed and never mentioned. The sentence is honest, which is what makes it useless. Not thinking about it was itself the decision, and the thinking would have taken about thirty seconds.

Put a short pause into the things you do on autopilot: sending, signing, agreeing, getting into a car. Ask once whether anything is riding on this that you have not looked at. Half a minute is cheaper than finding out later.