What prompted me to write this book?

After years of talking, writing, rewriting, worrying, pitching, restarting and head scratching, I am thrilled to announce that The Modern Maverick is out today.  As the idea becomes a reality, people have asked where this all started: what prompted me to write this book?

I can still remember when I first read the summary of Bronnie Ware’s book, a summary is on my desk pasted to this monitor.  Bronnie is a terminal care nurse who spent several years caring for people in the last weeks of their lives. In her book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, she writes that she heard many confessions of regret during the last days of people’s lives, which she summarised into five key phrases:

1)  I wish I’d 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’d had the courage to express my feelings

4)  I wish I’d stayed in touch with my friends

5)  I wish that I’d let myself be happier.

These regrets seemed deeply tragic to me, and avoidable.  They all seemed directly within our control.  Unlike many things we spend our lives chasing-  getting rich, or becoming famous, these  regrets felt fundamental and important, they resonated and often arose in conversations with clients.  

I couldn’t find the answers on how to avoid these regrets in Bronnie’s book and started looking elsewhere.  After a few frustrated years of looking, I realised I had to write the book and help people design and live their best lives, and stand a good chance of dying with minimal regrets.

The book is out today and you can buy a copy here