The following essay is a (rather extensive) rewrite of a post from last year. After teaching this weekend on the topic of No Regrets at The Vineyard, this seemed timely. If you missed it, you can watch or listen to the message here. (Skip ahead to the 22 min. mark to see the teaching.) You can aslo read my previous post called Dying People Have 5 Big Regrets. The following addresses the #1 Regret: Living the life others wanted me to live, instead of the life I wanted.

“Hey, Joe. How can I become a _________?”

I get this question all the time.

The fill-in-the-blank changes with the questioner. People ask me how to become an author or screenwriter or actor or movie producer or pastor. These are all things I do, so I suppose it makes sense that people would ask my advice. I still reach…