How should we answer this question - 'Looking back, what would you do differently in your life?' in the HR interview?

No matter how much happy and successful you become because of the choice you made years ago, you would, in this lifetime, never be able to know how things would have been had you taken commerce or done something else for that matter.

I will take a chance to explain what I feel could be a smart and genuine answer to this question. Yes, the answer should be smart and not very blunt. It should also not be a fairy answer either and should sound genuine to the interviewer and also to yourself so that you reflect conviction on your face.

So, here goes!

We all have, at least once in our lives, encountered a situation of crucial decision making. Let's say you were faced with two completely different choices at the start of your career; whether to choose Science or Commerce stream for your +2 level in school and lets say you were never too inclined to any particular field like music, art, dance, acting, drama etc from your childhood.

So, after a lot of brainstorming sessions with your family, friends, relatives and spending hours into self introspection, you decided to choose Science and become an Engineer later in your career. Lets not get into the details of the reasons why you choose a particular field and not the other.

Several years down the line, you emerged as a successful engineer and thinking in retrospect, you feel convinced that you made an informed and a good decision. But....

No matter how much happy and successful you become because of the choice you made years ago, you would, in this lifetime, never be able to know how things would have been had you taken commerce or done something else for that matter. You would forever remain oblivious of what was in store for you had you not made a decision you then made. But you don't harbour any regrets in your heart. You are just "Curious" to know What if.................
Sometimes, you wish you had another life to explore what was on the other side of the sea. But, unfortunately you don't.

I hope you got your answer or at least the way you should approach this question.

P.S : I have been asked this question in a couple of interviews before and I narrated the whole story above as it is.