Don't Die With These Regrets
Photo by Danie Franco on Unsplash
I mention death a lot. Why? Because living life is so darn important to me. We’re all gonna die someday with a big long list of things we didn’t do. That's OK. That’s life.
And you, living your life, on your own terms and important to me too. Heck, that’s the whole reason I started this business! I’m not a “productivity bro” and I don’t care for “the hustle”.
I’m not about doing ALL THE THINGS. (Because that’s impossible.)
What I do want, for you, for me and for everyone else, is that you’re able to use your time intentionally, so that at the end of every day you feel satisfied. So that you know what you did today was more important than what you didn't do. I want you to feel confident in your priorities. I want you to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you did “enough” and you are “enough”.
That’s what's important. And that’s what’s possible.
So what can we learn from the dying?
And not to get too morbid here (well, who am I kidding, it’s about to get pretty morbid!), but there are 5 super common regrets that people talk about on their deathbeds. And I don’t want you to have them.
1. “I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
Do you put yourself last? Do you say yes as a default? Time is literally the only thing you can’t get back and that you can’t make more of. Are you spending your time in service of yourself, and your own goals and values? Or are you waiting for “extra” time to somehow be handed to you so that you can finally do what you want?
2. ”I wish I hadn't worked so hard.”
You’ve heard people say “work smarter, not harder” and perhaps you’ve thought: “Well, yeah, ok, HOW am I supposed to do that?”
You run yourself ragged every day, and you STILL feel like you haven’t done enough.
Well, I’m here to help you processize your work, put structure around your to-do’s and capitalize on the work you’ve already done, so you’re not reinventing the wheel day after day.
3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
Yikes, this is a big one. What does time management have to do with feelings? Well, I’m going to bet that if you’re still reading, you feel overwhelmed, you feel exhausted, you might even feel used and unsupported because you’re taking on all the work. And we waste A LOT of time feeling those feelings, and not doing anything about it. As I told a client the other day, awkward situations deserve awkward conversations. I want to help you learn to set boundaries in a way that’s both direct and kind.
4. “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
Do you make time for your friends? Maybe you want to, but finding a time when everyone is available is just too much work. You get carried away with life and realize it’s been months since you connected. But you don’t have the energy.
Well, here’s the thing: You don’t find time. You make it.
Plain and simple. If you want to cultivate your friendships, I can help you learn how to prioritize what’s important, and systematize the implementation, so making time for friends, and date nights, isn’t an afterthought, it’s a part of your routine.
5. “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”
Let me tell you something. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to spend your time in a way that makes you happy, and that makes you feel fulfilled. We often think that happiness isn’t something we have a lot of control over. But you do. People on their deathbed aren’t lamenting the circumstances of their life when it comes to happiness. They are talking about choices. They wished they had “let” themselves be happier.
And it’s your choice, too. You can keep living how you’re living, waiting for things to get less busy, for circumstances to improve. Or you can take action. Change is within your grasp.
So what about you? If you can imagine yourself 30, 40, or even 50 years older, what would you regret?
Imagine taking action now, to spare yourself that regret. To die knowing that you lived according to your own goals and values. Knowing that your actions, your time, matched your intentions.
If there were ever a time to prioritize doing more and stressing less, this is it.