We value what happened but what did not happened has tremendous value too


Hitler was defeated by the Allies. Cesar became the Roman Emperor.  Steve Jobs released the iPhone. You resigned from this job. You participated in this marathon. You successfully run this meeting. You split with this person, kissed this person. 

We care what happened. It makes the History.  It makes the history of our lives.
And we forget what did not happen, what was avoided, what would have been disastrous or amazing if... BUT did not happened.

Isn't it equally important?

Avoiding a war, avoiding destabilising a country, avoiding a terrorist attack.The result is that life of people continued as usual.

Avoiding the explosion of a team due to personal conflicts, convincing a person to not quit.
Result is business as usual but nothing happened.

Avoiding dating someone while you’re engaged,  avoiding breaking up with your wife because of a stupid dispute, avoiding being rude with your girl/boyfriend.
Nothing happened in your couple. People praise the longevity of it.

Nothing happened but this "nothing" is as important as what happened, or more sometimes.

Conclusion:
When you prepare your todo (of the day, of your life, whatever), put things you'll do and think of things you will avoid.
When you want to act, question briefly if it's not better to not act, to avoid doing things (and focus on other  things).
When you analyze a situation, a past event, check what happened, the result, and also try to understand what was avoided.