Playing it safe was the costly move

A thirty-five-year-old in California wrote this in the World Regret Survey: "I wish I'd taken more career risks. I've played it too safe." He has a steady job and his salary arrives on time. He regrets it anyway. Safe choices feel costless, but the bill arrives later, shaped like the thing you didn't do. A regret at thirty-five does not stay at thirty-five.