A few years ago, while I was living in South Africa, I began to think seriously about living a life without regrets.

A few friends told me they were going to climb Table Mountain later in the week, and they invited me to come along. At first I said no—I had a meeting to attend, and I worried that the other people would wonder why I was absent.

For the next couple of days, the decision nagged at me.

I finally called my friends back and went with them to climb the mountain.

I know this sounds like a small decision—giving up one meeting and one morning’s work. But at the time it felt incredibly freeing. I’ve thought back on it many times. There are bigger inflection points in life, but there are also a lot of mornings when you can either go climb the mountain or send the email.

The morning you climb the mountain is the one you remember.