--- title: Living Life Without Regret: 3 Secrets From Research description: Because research says it's what you make of it canonical: https://time.com/3676444/living-life-without-regret/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-24T12:00:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:08:37.679Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Living Life Without Regret: 3 Secrets From Research og:description: Because research says it's what you make of it og:url: https://time.com/3676444/living-life-without-regret/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f11daf2e8c68c49/69877aff428a9e47c8cc6afd/180550662-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3888 og:image:height: 2187 og:image:alt: Silhouette-girl-jumping og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Living Life Without Regret: 3 Secrets From Research twitter:description: Because research says it's what you make of it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f11daf2e8c68c49/69877aff428a9e47c8cc6afd/180550662-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Living Life Without Regret: 3 Secrets From Research > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=6276d038-464f-4f15-b705-57ce96ba97b7&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 24, 2015 12:00 PM UTC  Silhouette of Girl doing Stag Jump Silhouette of Girl doing Stag Jump Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 24, 2015 12:00 PM UTC First, what do we regret the most? * You’re more likely to [regret the things you didn’t do](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-do-we-regret-the-most) than the things you did. (The split is about [75/25](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-are-we-most-likely-to-regret).) * [Education was the biggest inducer of regret](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-do-we-regret-most-why), followed by career, romance, parenting, the self, and leisure. * You’re more likely to [regret purchasing things](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-do-we-regret-buying-what-do-we-regret-no). You’re more likely to regret _not_ purchasing experiences. And for the big picture: [what do people regret the most before they die?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-do-people-regret-the-most-before-they-di) **1\. “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”** **2\. “I wish I didn’t work so hard.”** **3\. “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”** **4\. “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”** **5\. “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”** So what can you do to live a life without regret? * First, stop worrying. You anticipate regret will be much more painful than it actually is. [Studies show we consistently overestimate how regret affects us.](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-we-work-too-hard-to-avoid-regret) * Leaving options open is not the answer. Ironically, [leaving options open makes you dwell on whether you should change your mind.](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-leaving-your-options-open-the-path-to-happ) Once the situation is no longer reversible, cognitive dissonance works to your advantage and you’re more likely to be at peace. * As with anything related to happiness, perspective is most of the battle. Stop comparing your situation to a lofty, perfect one and [compare it to something far worse that you could have opted for](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-to-quickly-and-easily-reduce-regret). In studies this is consistently associated with lower regret intensity. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/07/how-can-you-live-life-without-regret-70477/)**_._** **Join over 150,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/06/most-productive-people/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3676444/living-life-without-regret/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3676444/living-life-without-regret/"},"headline":"Living Life Without Regret: 3 Secrets From Research","datePublished":"2015-01-24T12:00:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:08:37.679Z","description":"Because research says it's what you make of it","url":"https://time.com/3676444/living-life-without-regret/","keywords":["Psychology","Life","Research","Lifestyle","advice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f11daf2e8c68c49/69877aff428a9e47c8cc6afd/180550662-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9f11daf2e8c68c49/69877aff428a9e47c8cc6afd/180550662-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Silhouette-girl-jumping","caption":"Silhouette-girl-jumping","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3676444/living-life-without-regret/","name":"Living Life Without Regret: 3 Secrets From Research"}}]}] ```