Haven’t looked back?

Reader question:

Please explain “haven’t looked back” in this sentence: I started wearing shorts in my 60s and haven’t looked back.

My comments:

The speaker started wearing shorts in his or her 60s and have been enjoying wearing them ever since.

“Haven’t looked back” implies that they haven’t regretted their decision since.

Like, not even once.

Like, not in the least.

How old is the speaker now? In their 70s, 80s or even 90s?

Whatever the case, they haven’t looked back and revisited their decision back then, when they decided to start wearing shorts in their 60s.

In their 60s, right?

That’s pretty late, no?

Aren’t they supposed to dress warm at that ripe old age?

I mean, aren’t we all supposed to dress warm when we’re old?

As we get older, our metabolism gets slower. Partially in consequence of this, our body temperature lowers and, hence, it makes sense for us to dress warmer as we get older.

But everybody is different. Perhaps the speaker in our example is exceptional in some particular way. Call them late comers, if you will because, for some particular reason, they did not wear shorts when they were younger.

However, in their 60s they started wearing shorts instead of trousers and have enjoyed it since.

The fact that they “haven’t looked back” suggests that they’re still enjoying their decision.

You know, we make decisions, big and small, every day and we often change our mind, too. Sometimes we change a decision after a day or two. That’s after we look back, figuratively speaking, to see if it is still the right decision or a wrong one, a still successful one or now a failing one, whether we regret it now, so on and so forth.

For our speaker to never look back, therefore, suggests that they’re still happy with their decision.

Now, let’s read a few media examples for a better idea of “haven’t looked back”, a popular idiom used to indicate that someone has moved forward and kept being successful after making a decision or change:

1. A strong across-the-board showing by Donald Trump helped propel the Republican former president to victory in Florida, once a preeminent swing state that has increasingly slipped out of Democrats’ grasp.

Trump not only improved on his 2020 performance in Republican areas of the state. He made inroads with voters in Florida’s battleground areas and was on pace to outperform Vice President Kamala Harris in areas considered to be moderately Democratic. Trump led Harris by 11 percentage points with about 80% of the expected vote report when the race was called.

But his lead in Miami-Dade County was perhaps the most surprising – and the most dispiriting for Democrats. It’s been decades since a Republican presidential contender carried the county, which Joe Biden won by roughly 7 percentage points four years ago.

Over 81% of the vote had been counted in Florida when the AP called the race. Harris would have needed to get 73% of the outstanding vote left to be counted in order to overtake Trump’s lead.

…

The last time Florida swung for a Democratic presidential candidate was over a decade ago, when Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by less than a percentage point. Voters in the state haven’t looked back.

- Why AP called Florida for Trump, KCRA.com, November 5, 2024.

2. When Arsenal swooped to beat Tottenham Hotspur to the signing of Eberechi Eze, it was one of the standout moments of this summer’s transfer window.

The Gunners, who had already spent heavily in the market, moved quickly to hijack their rivals’ move for the England midfielder after an injury to Kai Havertz – and Eze has not looked back since.

It was an easy decision to move to the Gunners for someone who was a boyhood fan of the club and was in Arsenal’s academy before being released.

But then came the questions of where he would fit into Mikel Arteta’s plans.

Arsenal did not see Eze as an outright winger, which meant he would be competing in the congested central area of the pitch with captain Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Ethan Nwaneri.

However, an injury to Odegaard has seen Eze play regularly - and the 27-year-old has continued to improve as he gets used to Arteta’s system.

At Crystal Palace, Eze played more from the left, but at Arsenal, he is closer to the right as Arteta looks to build a connection with Bukayo Saka.

Eze has produced some standout moments this season for the Gunners – an assist for Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time equaliser against Manchester City, the winning goal against old club Palace and now this classy hat-trick against Tottenham.

He has four goals and three assists in his 15 appearances for Arsenal this term – and the most goal involvements of any English player in the top flight in 2025.

Arsenal are deservedly top of the league - and Eze’s ability to create something from nothing can help keep them there.

- Arsenal analysis: Eze shows why Gunners changed plans to sign him, BBC.com, November 23, 2025.

3. Victor Wembanyama returned from a Game 4 ejection with a historic performance on Tuesday, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 126-97 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. With this win, the Spurs hold a 3-2 series lead and are one win away from their first Western Conference Finals appearance since 2017.

Wembanyama was an offensive force early, scoring 16 of the team’s first 24 points. He finished the first quarter with 18 points and 6 rebounds, joining Tim Duncan as the only Spurs in the play-by-play era to record a 15/5 stat line in a playoff opening quarter. By halftime, he became the second-youngest player since 2000 to record 20+ points and 10+ rebounds in any playoff half.

The Timberwolves fought back to tie the game at 61-61 in the third quarter behind Anthony Edwards, who finished with 20 points. However, Julian Champagnie sparked a 7-0 run that shifted momentum back to San Antonio. The Spurs closed the third on a 30-12 flurry and never looked back.

Keldon Johnson added 21 points while De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle provided steady support. Wembanyama finished with 27 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. Coach Mitch Johnson praised the young star’s performance as extremely mature.

Minnesota now faces elimination. Game 6 is scheduled for Friday, where the Wolves must win at home to keep their season alive.

- Wembanyama Dominates as Spurs Push Wolves to Brink, TheSource.com, May 13, 2026.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：张欣）