Why You Feel More Anxious After Successful Change? Ge Hexagram Nine in Fourth Place: Don’t Look Back Once You Transform

The hardest part of transformation isn’t taking action — it’s shifting your mindset after the change is done.

A friend of mine spent a whole year shutting down his factory in his hometown and moving south to start a new business from scratch. Everyone said he was crazy: why give up a perfectly running factory to start over in a place where he knew no one and nothing?

A year later, he made it. His new company is doing better than the old factory ever did, and his income has doubled.

But he told me he still dreams about that old factory every night. It’s not nostalgia — it’s a vague, indescribable sense of guilt. He wonders if he did the wrong thing, if he was too impulsive, if he let down the veteran employees who’d worked for him for over a decade.

I told him: your transformation succeeded on the outside, but you haven’t turned the corner in your heart yet.

悔亡 (Remorse Disappears): True Change Only Comes When Regret Fades

The Nine in the Fourth Place line of the *Revolution* Hexagram has this line text: 悔亡，有孚改命，吉 (Remorse disappears. With sincerity and trust, one changes one’s fate. Good fortune.)

"悔亡" means remorse vanishes. The old has been overturned, the new has taken root, and you no longer regret the decision you made back then.

"有孚改命" means you change your destiny with sincerity and trust. "吉" means auspicious, good fortune.

This line is the turning point of the entire *Revolution* Hexagram. From the First Line to the Third Line, we’re in the preparation and execution phase of transformation. By the Fourth Line, the change has succeeded: the old order is broken, the new order is established, and you can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

But Wen Laoshi pointed out a very subtle nuance: what’s the precondition for "悔亡"? It’s that you truly feel no remorse in your heart.

Why We Still Feel Regret After Making a Change

Many people who pull off a successful transformation seem to have everything together on the surface, but there’s always a thorn in their heart.

They’ll think: was I too radical? Could I have avoided doing it this way? Was there a better option?

This kind of "remorse" isn’t a rejection of the result — it’s a pained look back at the cost of the process. No transformation happens without hurting someone. Even a correct, necessary change will always involve sacrifices, injuries, and dissatisfied people along the way.

Your remorse can only disappear when you accept these costs. If you keep looking over your shoulder mid-change, that regret will never go away.

Wen Laoshi said something I found so true: the biggest cost of transformation isn’t money — it’s emotional. You have to psychologically accept "the correct decision that isn’t perfect."

"有孚改命" (With Sincerity, One Changes Fate): You Have to Truly Believe You’ve Changed

The core of the Fourth Line’s text is "有孚" — sincerity and trust, genuine conviction.

When you’ve changed your fate, you have to truly believe that change is the right one. Not self-comfort, not forcing yourself to go through the motions — but a deep, inner recognition of your own choice.

If you’ve chosen a new path, you have to trust that it’s better than the old one. Even if the new road has potholes and rough patches, you know the overall direction is right.

Wen Laoshi says this is exactly what "有孚改命" means: you aren’t changing because you’re forced to — you’re changing because you believe in it.

Don’t Look Back

What’s the biggest danger after a transformation is complete? Looking back.

You’re already on the new path, but you keep glancing at the old one. You see something from the old road still there, and you want to go back and pick it up. You hit a snag on the new path, and you start thinking you should’ve never changed in the first place.

The Fourth Line tells you: 悔亡 — let the remorse fade, don’t hold onto it. If you don’t let go of old regrets, your new destiny will never be stable.

This isn’t to say you can’t reflect. Reflection is glancing back for a moment, then keeping going forward. Looking back is staring so long you stop moving, stuck in place overthinking.

A Final Thought

The lesson from the Nine in the Fourth Place of the *Revolution* Hexagram is simple: once you’ve changed, don’t look back.

When your transformation succeeds, let go of the old. It’s okay to feel regret, guilt, or reluctance about the process — just don’t let those feelings hold you back.

有孚改命，吉 (With sincerity and trust, one changes one’s fate. Good fortune.)

When you truly believe the road you’re on is the right one, that road will carry you where you need to go.