It is a sad and unfortunate reality that most people die full of regret. Their dying breaths leave them longing for the life that they failed to live.

Will this be your fate, too?

Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care. She cared for patients in the last weeks of their lives. As she attended to her patients, she recorded their dying epiphanies — gathering so much information that she wrote a book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives. "When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently," she says, "common themes surfaced again and again."

What are those "Top Five Regrets"? Well, to get all five I'd recommend reading the book, however, I find the top regret so powerful that it gives us plenty to consider.

The top regret was, "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."

Ware notes, "This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled."

Ouch!!!

I have unfortunately known too many people who were either living other people's lives rather than their own or not fully living their own life. Many people suppress their true identity — their true uniqueness — in order to make others happy, or in order to make it easier to get along with others, or in order to not create conflict with others, or in order to…….The list goes on and on and on.

The result of living like this? An incomplete life that one day they will regret. Just like Ware noted, they never fully became who they were truly capable of becoming.

Why do so many people choose to live this way?

Those who have sought to answer this question typically say that it is because of fear. That most people are afraid to embrace who they truly are. Afraid that others might laugh. Afraid that they might not be accepted. Sure, I get it. I fully understand being afraid to express oneself.

But I know that the fundamental problem goes deeper than fear. Much deeper. In my experience, most people do not believe that it is even possible for them to live their own extraordinary life — to truly live out their unique purpose in a passionate and powerful way.

How do you live a life without regret?

Belief + Vision + Action

Believe that you deserve to live your life without regret. You do.

Envision what it would look like for you to be on your deathbed reflecting upon a well-lived, regret-free life.(A morbid thought, I know….but this is good to do.) Who is gathered around you and what are your relationships like with those people? What memories are being shared? What experiences are you glad you had? The clearer your picture, the more engaged your emotions will be. And you’ll need engaged emotions for the next step.

Take courageous action today. Regret is just the effect of not having taken the necessary steps today to make your ideal life a reality. Whatever is going to be important for at the end of your life needs to be important now. Invest in those key relationships now, not later. Create those fabulous memories now, not later. Have those tremendous experiences now, not later.

Don’t wait.

Waiting will lead to regret.

Do it now.

For as you live your days, so you live your life. Every single day matters. Make that well-lived, regret-free life happen today. Then repeat tomorrow. Do this, and your every breath will be full of regret-free living.