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Humza Yousaf revealed he has "no regrets" over his career, as he reflected on his "four most traumatic weeks".
Speaking on his last day at Holyrood as he leaves his role as MSP for Glasgow Pollock, Mr Yousaf said there's a "tinge of sadness that this particular chapter is coming to an end", but added there's "a lot of excitement about the next chapter that's about to open".
He reflected on when the war broke out in Gaza during his term as First Minister, which members of his family were caught up in.
He described the time as "quite easily the four most traumatic weeks of our lives".
Mr Yousaf told LBC: "From a personal perspective, I was the leader of my country, the leader of a party that was pretty divided at the time. So I had all the internal pressure.
"I had my mother-in-law and father-in-law stuck during horrendous bombardment taking place daily, where they didn't know whether the next jet that went overhead would be the one that would kill them.
"I had a wife who was inconsolable because she didn't know whether or not her mother and father would come out of Gaza alive.
"I had at that time two daughters who didn't know whether their granny or grandpa would come back home to them.
"And there I was trying to be the best father to them and the best husband to my wife while trying to lead a country to make sure that while dealing with that, I wasn't so distracted that I couldn't do the other things."
Despite the difficult situations he faced, looking back at his career, he said he does not have any regrets.
"I don't say this with any arrogance, but I genuinely do not do too much in the way of regret, not because I don't think I could have done things differently. I do," he said.
"But I'd rather see them as points of reflection, the way I can learn a lesson from and incorporate that into my life, whether it's personal or professional."
Mr Yousaf revealed he is writing a book about the war in Gaza and his family's struggles, which will be out in October.
Speaking of his political achievements, he added: "There's lots of things I'm very proud of, constituency, national, maybe even globally, that I've been able to achieve.
"And I've just been so privileged to be able to have that opportunity to do so."