If you can spare me 6 minutes, you'll get 10 years of your life back

Ten years ago, I came across an idea—an idea that changed my life and work forever. I came across a book by Bronnie Ware, a palliative nurse who spent years with patients in the final weeks of their lives. When people face their death, something happens.

Suddenly, they stop taking life for granted. The small, everyday moments become incredibly valuable because it was the last time they would do anything. Learning from those whom she cared for, she shared the top five regrets, which was eye-opening for me: not the life others expected of me; I wish, I wish, I wish.

None of these regrets are about getting that promotion, making more money, or being popular in front of others. Because does it really matter when you're so close to death? They’re about the moments and the relationships we often neglect in the pursuit of more—more success, more approval from others, more wealth.

But it's not about the external goals we didn’t reach; it's about the experiences that we missed out on while chasing them. Like calling your parents and catching up over a nice family meal, living joyfully, working on your passions, hanging out with your close friends over a deep conversation, kissing your loved one one more time, having fun, and pursuing your hobbies. Traveling to explore places you’ve never been before.

And if you've got a family of your own, seeing the smile on your child's face when they finally see you at the end of a long day. And this points to a very simple truth: we spend so much of our time stressing about the future, but the magic is in the here and now. And this brings me to the next point of falling into the trap of being addicted to achievements on the outside and chasing happiness.

We get caught in the trap of thinking, “I’ll be happy once I reach that goal,” or, “When I hit that milestone, then I can relax. ” But the truth is, happiness doesn't come at the finishing line. It's found in the process—in who we become along the way.

Take it from my own experience: when I was starting this YouTube channel, I waited years to finally feel ready to post my first video. And then when I did, the early days were so tough. Staying motivated was hard.

Putting myself out there was hard. But I found that the real joy came when I started focusing less on the big end goal and more on the small wins and the skills I picked up along the way. Maybe it was getting a really life-changing comment from someone on how my video helped them or seeing a tiny bit of improvement in each new video.

Those little things made the journey so much more rewarding. And in the end, I evolved into a different person who learned so much in the process—a person that’s almost unrecognizable to myself. And that's where most people get stuck: waiting for the perfect moment, waiting until they feel ready.

But here's the truth: clarity doesn't come from waiting; it comes from doing. We often wait for the right time, for all the information, for the confidence to magically appear. But that's not how it works.

This path you are going on isn't something you can always see from the start. You created it by walking, by doing, by learning from each small step along the way. Yeah, taking that first step is going to feel uncomfortable.

You might be afraid of failing and not knowing exactly what to do. But the pain of feeling stuck is always worse than the pain of taking action. Because every day you stay in place is a day that you're further away from living the life you really want.

When you start before you're ready, something powerful happens. You build up momentum, and every tiny step makes you feel much more capable, more confident. It's the vote that you put in yourself for the kind of person that you want to become.

And suddenly, the things that felt overwhelming start to feel manageable. What felt impossible becomes finally achievable. Here’s the thing: you don’t need to know every step—just the next one.

And this brings me back to this beautiful story my dad once told me. A child asked his mother what her favorite moment in life was, expecting to hear something like, "The day I got married," or, "The day that I achieved X and Y. " But the mother simply said, "This moment right now," because yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.

The only moment we truly have is now. We often live as if the future is promised to us, as if we’ll always have time to do the things that really matter. But all we have is now.

So instead of waiting for some distant future when you finally enjoy life and do what you want to do, why not start today? So make that call, fill out that application, start that side hustle, write that book, share that video, book that flight, and spend that time with your loved ones. What will your life look like if you weren’t worried about what others thought?

What would it look like if you went all in? And what would it look like if it was the most fun you ever had? At the end of the day, the only person you have to answer to is yourself.

When you look back, it won't be about what you achieved, but about who you became in the process. The real success of you lies in how you lived each day. So go live it.

Spend your time doing what really matters to you. And don't wait until it's too late. Because I guarantee you, if you waited too long, the only regret you’ll have at the end of your life is that you didn't start earlier.

You might also like this one about the life lessons I wish I knew earlier in my 20s and 30s. I'm Laurie, and I look forward to seeing you in the next video. By the way, speaking of journaling, I have a list of journaling prompts that help me gain more clarity in my own life.

It's completely free! You can get it below in the descriptions. Okay, great.

I think that's done. Ten years ago, I came across an idea—an idea that changed my life and work forever. I came across a book by Briony, a qualitative nurse who spent years with patients in the final weeks of their lives.

When people face their death, something happens: suddenly, they stop taking life for granted. The small, everyday moments become incredibly valuable because it is the last time they will do anything. Learning from those she cared for, she shared the top five regrets of the dying, which was eye-opening for me: 1.

I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. 2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

3. I wish I had the courage to express my feelings. 4.

I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 5. I wish I had let myself be happier.

None of these regrets are about getting that promotion, making more money, or being popular in front of others. Because does it really matter when you're so close to death? They're about the moments and the relationships we often neglect in the pursuit of more—more success, more approval from others, more wealth.

But it's not about the external goals we didn’t reach; it's about the experiences that we missed out on while chasing them. Like calling your parents and catching up over a nice family meal, living joyfully, working on your passions, hanging out with your close friends over a deep conversation, kissing your loved one one more time, having fun, and pursuing your hobbies—traveling to explore places you've never been before. And if you've got a family of your own, seeing the smile on your child's face when they finally see you at the end of a long day.

This points to a very simple truth: we spend so much of our time stressing about the future, but the magic is in the here and now. This brings me to the next point: I fall into the trap of being addicted to achievements on the outside and chasing happiness. We get caught in the trap of thinking, "I'll be happy once I reach that goal," or, "when I hit that milestone, then I can relax.

" But the truth is, happiness doesn't come with the finish line. It's found in the process, in who we become along the way. Take it from my own experience: when I was starting this YouTube channel, I wondered for years to finally feel ready to post my first video.

And then when I did, the early days were so tough. Staying motivated was hard. Putting myself out there was hard.

But I found that the real joy came when I started focusing less on the big end goal and more on the small wins and the skills I picked up along the way. Maybe it was getting a really life-changing comment from someone on how my video helped them, or seeing a tiny bit of improvement in each new video. Those little things made the journey so much more rewarding.

In the end, I evolved into a different person who learned so much in the process—a person that's almost unrecognizable to myself. And that's where most people get stuck—waiting for the perfect moment, waiting until they feel ready. But here's the truth: clarity doesn't come from waiting; it comes from doing.

We often wait for the right time, for all the information, for the confidence to magically appear. But that's not how it works. The path you are going down isn't something you can always see from the start.

It is created by walking, by doing, by learning from each small step along the way. Yes, taking that first step is going to feel uncomfortable. You might be afraid of failing and unsure of what to do next.

But the pang of feeling stuck is always worse than the pang of taking action. Every day you stay in place is a day that you're further away from living the life you really want. When you start before you're ready, something powerful happens: you build up momentum, and every tiny step makes you feel much more capable and confident.

It's the vote you put in yourself for the kind of person you want to become. Suddenly, the things that felt overwhelming start to feel manageable. What felt impossible becomes finally achievable.

Here's the thing: you don't need to know every step, just the next one. This brings me back to a beautiful story my dad once told me. A child asks his mother what her favorite moment in life was, expecting to hear something like, "the day I got married" or "the day I achieved X.

" But the mother simply said, "This moment right now," because yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn't guaranteed. The only moment we really have is now. We often live as if the future is promised to us, as if we’ll always have time to do the things that really matter.

But all we have is now. So instead of waiting for some distant future when you can finally enjoy life and do what you want to do, why not start today? Make that call, fill out the application, start that side hustle, write that book, share that video, book that flight, and spend that time with your loved ones.

What will your life look like if you weren't worried about what others thought? What would it look like? Like, if you went all in?

And what would it look like if it was the most fun you ever had? At the end of the day, the only person you have to answer to is yourself. When you look back, it won't be about what you achieved, but about who you became.

The process. The real success of you lies in how you lived each day. So go live it.

Spend your time doing what really matters to you. And don't wait until it's too late. Because I guarantee you, if you wait too long, the only regret you will have at the end of your life is that you didn't start earlier.

Thank you so much for being here. If you enjoyed this video, you might also like this one about the life lessons I wish I knew earlier in my 20s and 30s. I'm Laurie.

I look forward to seeing you in the next video. By the way, speaking of journaling, I have a list of journaling prompts that help me gain more clarity in my own life. It's completely free, and you can get it below in the description.

Okay, great. I think that's done.