Bronnie Ware is a blogger who used to work in palliative care. She recently wrote a post about the most common regrets of the dying.
Paul Graham is someone that I intellectually admire. He is a venture capitalist, essayist, and is the co-founder of the company that eventually became Yahoo Store. I like the way that Paul thinks. He took Bronnie’s list of five regrets and flipped them around, creating a to-do list.
Bronnie’s list (the most common regrets of the dying):
- I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
- I wish I didn’t work so hard
- I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings
- I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
- I wish that I had let myself be happier
- Don’t ignore your dreams
- Don’t work too much
- Say what you think
- Cultivate friendships
- Be happy
Follow Your Dreams
Consider your life and be aware that you have control over it. Consider that you can take active steps to make sure that you avoid these traps. Consider that these steps all reinforce one another. Focus on one and the benefits will spill over to the others.
Start now.
posted by yair
I’m surprised that, among the reported regrets, there were not some of the type, “I wish I had done more for others”, “I wish I had contributed more to improve the lives of family/friends/community/city/etc.” I think that one’s life goals needs that kind of balance.
I totally agree. Well put.
Great Post … We should certainly keep these in mind early on