In 2009 my doctor diagnosed me with clinical depression. At the time I was also suffering from eating disorders, drug addiction, and corporate burnout. I felt stuck and trapped by my own life. I came across a quote by Howard Thurman, "Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive," and my life direction was forever changed. I realized up until that point, I had just been going through the motions. I was letting life happen to me. I wasn’t happening in my own life.
So I set out to create a new life on my own terms. I pursued my passion for writing and traveling, and flash-forward to today, I’m happier and healthier than I have ever been.
The one question that changed everything for me.
In doing research for my next book, I read that the No. 1 regret of the dying is, "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me" followed up by "I wish that I had let myself be happier."
It immediately made me think about the end of my life, and in that moment I made a commitment to live more fully. I reminded myself that the purpose of life is to live more on purpose. I asked myself what I had always wanted to do but had never given myself permission to do.