How Not To Die Full Of Regrets

If you ask anyone what they want in life, chances are they will tell you one of the following things:

• More money
• Peace/happiness
• Better physical and emotional relationships
• A sense of purpose
• More freedom
• Passion for life
• Better health
• More energy
• Control over their time

These are all wonderful things and in a perfect world, we would have them all. How many of you can say that you wouldn't like more of any one of them? Of course you do. Everything on that list can change your life significantly for the better. So why aren't we doing them? We all want these things, but don't think we need them. I beg to differ. Wanting is never going to bring us happiness. Wanting is for the lazy. If we make the decision that we need these things in our lives, amazing things will happen. For example, if we needed $10,000 for an operation that would save the life of our child, we would find the money. Regardless if we were flat broke and $50,000 in debt, we would get that money. Why? Because we needed it. You might be thinking "nobody is going to die if I don't have freedom over my time or I don't have a sense of purpose" but you're wrong. We are dying. Each and every hour we spend wallowing in mediocrity and in the servitude of someone else, we are dying. What's worse is that it's not a quick and painless death. No, it's a 40 or 50 year painstakingly slow death that slowly transforms your mind and body into the living dead. Our society has taught us that this is not only OK, but is the way things should be done. We should find a job and work our way up the ranks. We should allow others to control our financial futures. We should spend 40+ years working a job whether we actually like it or not. That's being responsible. That's taking care of your family. That's providing security. That's bullshit! Working a shit job your entire life does not do anyone any good, especially you! Being unhappy for years on end because you're "stuck" in a job you hate is no way to live.

The Age of Opportunity

There is no (good) reason that in this day and age that anyone needs to feel hopeless in their search for more meaning, passion, and excitement in their lives. I don't care if we are in the middle of another Great Depression, there is always a way to make money doing something you have a burning passion for. We have more resources, tools, and opportunity at our fingertips than at any other time in history. Yet, we are still sitting on our asses and waiting for things to change. The waiting game will cost you a lot more that you think. It very may well cost you your life. How many times have you put something important off because it was too hard? "I'll do it tomorrow" you say. Well, tomorrow never comes. Life will not give you a second chance. You have to make your life work for you, not the other way around.

Don't Die Full of Regrets

If you enjoy your job and are happy with your current path, then great, I'm happy for you. I'm talking to the tens of millions of people who aren’t; the ones who celebrate TGIF, dread Sunday nights, and have to punch a clock for someone else every day. If you subscribe to the theory that this is how life is supposed to be and “work” is not supposed to be enjoyable, that why they call it “work”, I have news for you. It's not. Not by a long shot. Whether or not you agree with me is inconsequential. It's a stone cold fact that the majority of people will piss away their lives working meaningless and unfulfilling jobs and it's a travesty. Do you envision yourself in your final years to be wishing you had done so many other things with your life? Of course not. You believe that you’ll have lived a good life and will die with few regrets. We all want to believe that will be the case, but the sad fact is that we will die with some major regrets. But you don’t have to…

Fear is Stopping You

The reason people die with significant regrets is because they lived in fear. The only thing between living the life you want and living the life you have is fear. And it’s OK to be afraid, but if it controls you, it has won. Fear has many faces:

• The fear of criticism
• The fear of failure and
• The fear of the unknown
• The fear of change
• The fear of dying
• The fear of living up to our potential
• The fear of poverty
• The fear of being alone

This list could go on in perpetuity. There are so many things that you allow yourself to hold you back and in order for you to move forward, you must face them.

Belief is the First Step

In order to make any change in your life, you must first believe it’s possible. The human mind is an incredibly powerful tool. Of course belief alone will not get you anywhere because it has to be followed up with action. Because you are conditioned from a young age to believe that the best path in life is the one most traveled, many of you cannot comprehend the idea of living a life completely on your terms. What if you could do something that lit you up inside and get paid well for it? What if you could feel confident and in complete control of your life? What if you wake up every morning with a sense of purpose and full of vibrant energy? You can. The only thing holding yourself back is you. What are your fears? What’s really holding you back from living the life you want? Steve is the owner of EndingTheGrind.com, a blog dedicated to helping people break free from the 9-5 and live life with more passion.

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