Permission to prioritize what makes you happy

You’ve finally found time to indulge your creative passion...but shouldn’t you be using that time to answer emails or get an oil change? Not if you want to sidestep regret down the road, say researchers in the journal Emotion. They surveyed people about their biggest “coulda, shoulda, woulda” moments and found that 32% more of those regrets were about abandoning personally meaningful goals than about skipping out on obligations. Since we’re more likely to circle back and make up for unfulfilled duties, desires tend to linger on the back burner indefinitely because they’re not obligatory.