This impulse is helpful most of the time, but compounded over one’s life it stops us from moving towards what Gilovich and Davidai call our “ideal self.” When people reflect on their lives, these are the things that people regret most – not moving towards their ideal selves. The professors argue that people rarely regret the things they do in their lives. This is exactly because of the power of our “ought to” selves – even if we fail, we tend to take immediate action to fix those mistakes.67
