Highest and Best Use Audit
Work backward from regret, then choose today's best use of who you are now.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 99%
The Highest and Best Use Audit combines backward planning with a daily context check. Begin at the end: imagine your deathbed and the epitaph that would represent a life well used. Identify the omissions most likely to create regret, because Higgins argues that end-of-life regret is often about what was not done. Then return to today and assess the current version of yourself: your abilities, experiences, relationships, constraints, and changing context. Ask, “What is the highest and best use of me today?” Borrowed from evaluating the use of land, the question prevents yesterday's identity or stale priorities from allocating today's time. Set concrete intentions from the answer, act on them, and repeat the audit as both you and your circumstances evolve.
Origin
Higgins adapted the land-use concept of a property's “highest and best use” into a daily personal audit, connecting it to working backward from his deathbed and desired epitaph.
Core principles
- 01Regret is reduced through deliberate intention.
- 02Deathbed perspective reveals omissions that ordinary urgency hides.
- 03The best use of time changes as the person and context change.
- 04Daily priorities should reflect who you are now rather than yesterday's identity.
- 05A useful priority connects present action to a desired life story.
How to run it
- 1
Project the ending
Imagine the epitaph you want and how you hope to feel on your deathbed. Use that perspective to define what a well-used life means to you.
Pro tip Write one sentence rather than constructing an elaborate fantasy.
Watch out Do not borrow somebody else's definition of a worthy life.
- 2
Surface likely omissions
List the things you would most regret never attempting, expressing, or prioritizing. Focus on meaningful omissions rather than every possible experience.
Pro tip Notice repeated “I didn't” statements; they often reveal the durable priority.
Watch out A fear of missing out is not automatically a deathbed-level regret.
- 3
Audit today's self
Assess your present abilities, energy, responsibilities, relationships, and context. Acknowledge how experience and circumstances have changed since prior plans were made.
Pro tip Include constraints; the highest use must be possible today.
Watch out Do not allocate today's life using an obsolete identity.
- 4
Choose the highest use
Ask what use of you today best aligns the current context with the desired ending. Select the priority that creates the strongest meaningful contribution or prevents the deepest omission.
Pro tip Force the answer into a specific action or protected block of time.
Watch out Calling everything a priority avoids the decision.
- 5
Set and renew intentions
Translate the answer into today's intentions, act, and reassess on the next day. Allow the choice to evolve as you and the context change.
Pro tip End the day by asking whether your calendar reflected the stated use.
Watch out Do not keep a prior intention merely for consistency when its context has changed.
In the wild
A founder imagines that her deepest future regret would be repeatedly sacrificing family milestones for low-consequence operational messages. On a day containing both routine inbox work and her child's school event, she audits her current context and identifies attending the event as her highest and best use. She blocks the time, delegates the non-urgent messages, and revisits the question the next day when the context is different.
→ A distant value becomes a concrete daily allocation instead of a statement repeatedly overridden by urgency.
Common mistakes
Treating every desire as a regret
The audit loses force when ordinary fear of missing out is given the same weight as a durable life omission.
Ignoring current constraints
A priority that cannot be acted on today is not today's highest practical use.
Keeping yesterday's answer
The method requires a fresh audit because both the person and the context evolve.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people juggling several worthwhile roles or opportunities without a clear daily priority.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for choosing among tasks when urgent safety, care, or contractual obligations already determine the priority.
From the transcript
“the antidote to regret is intention”
“i'm always working backwards from my deathbed and my epitaph what do i want my epitaph to read and what am i going to feel…”
“what is the highest and best use of Matt today”
From the episode
Matt Higgins: Burn the Boats, Refuse to Die. Legendary Shark Makes the Case for No Plan B
Matt Higgins