Have you read this beautiful essay by Bronnie Ware? Bronnie worked with palliative care patients and wanted to share the universal stories of regret from those at the end of their lives.
Write down your regrets. Keep this list in front of you, because you can use these regrets to be guide posts for your future growth. You don’t have to wait until the end of your life to think about this! Now is the time to look in the mirror. Because you still have the chance to change your trajectory.
I’ll share some of my regrets.
I regret spending more time on my career than investing in strong friendships and close relationships.
I regret putting my career worries ahead of my kids when they were babies.
I neglected my sleep for decades.
I didn’t think twice about whether medicine suited me before I went all in.
I didn’t learn how to handle my finances as a medical trainee.
I also regret giving up writing when I was a teenager and replaced it with biochemistry. Seriously. What was I thinking?!
Analyze your regrets.
Maybe you lost time/money/skills.
Maybe you stayed in a relationship with the wrong person for too long.
Maybe you shouldn’t have chosen your specialty (or even medicine as a profession).
Maybe you should have had kids while you had the chance.
Maybe you shouldn’t have had kids because others expected it.
Maybe you gave up hobbies you really loved.
Maybe you didn’t get to say your last goodbye to a loved one.
These are detours.
I know you want to do things perfectly, but think of regrets as opening different doors. Upon reflection, what did you gain from these past “mistakes?” Write them next to your list of regrets.
If you choose to learn from your regrets, you will gain well-deserved wisdom. This forms the foundation for better choices in the future.
Question: which one of Bronnie’s regrets do you feel yourself?
