Last month, former teen idol David Cassidy died at the age of 67.

The world has lost some pretty big rock stars recently — including Tom Petty, Walter Becker of Steely Dan, Malcolm Young of AC/DC, and Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens (not as well known as the others, but one of my all-time favorites) — but none of their deaths haunt me as much as Cassidy’s.

This might seem odd since I wasn’t even a fan of his. I never watched The Partridge Family, and I don’t really know his music. (I only vaguely remember hearing “I Think I Love You” as a kid, but that’s about it.)

Although my heart goes out to his friends, family, and fans, I didn’t feel any particular connection with him. What affected me so much were his last words (as reported by his daughter, Katie Cassidy):

“So much wasted time.”

Oof! If that’s not a kick in the gut (and a kick in the pants), I don’t know what is! If there’s any sentence that none of us would want as our final words, that would be it.

I’m not sure what exactly he was thinking or feeling when he said these words, but it can’t have been good. After all, this is exactly the opposite of what most of us want: time well spent, a life well spent…however we personally define that. For some of us, this might mean fame and riches. For others of us, it might simply mean living a rich life — full of meaningful connections, personal satisfaction, and spiritual fulfillment.

When Cassidy’s daughter shared his final words, she wrote: “This will be a daily reminder for me to share my gratitude with those I love [and] to never waste another minute.”

I hope that it offers the same reminder to all of us, so that when the time comes for us to speak our own last words, they can be:

“So much well-spent time.”

Because, after all, time well spent is a life well spent.

How about you? What would you consider time/life well spent?

Would that mean more time with your loved ones? More time spent on spiritual practices? More time accomplishing meaningful life goals? Or just more time having fun and feeling good?

For me, all of these things are true! First and foremost, spending time with the love of my life is always top priority. I’d also like to get to the beach more often since we live just 3 minutes away! 🙂

In addition to this, I’d like to accomplish several important life goals…and enjoy the journey while I’m doing this! And if I had to pick just one personal goal, it would be writing/publishing a book. (If I were to die now, one of my biggest regrets would be that I didn’t complete a couple that I’ve been meaning to write for some time now.)

So in 2018 I’m going to take a big step toward preempting this regret — and making good use of my time — by committing to finishing and publishing at least one book. And to make sure that I do this — while helping others with this goal to do the same — I’m going to be leading (and participating in) Your Soulful Book, a yearlong heart-centered writing program that provides all the tools you need to write, publish, and market your soulful book.

If this sounds like a dream you’d also like to make come true for yourself in 2018, I hope you’ll join us. You can get all the info at www.yoursoulfulbook.com. If you have any questions about the program or would like to talk to me about it, I’d be happy to set up a video chat with you — just email me at info@yoursoulfulbook.com.

Whatever your dreams are for 2018 (and beyond), I hope you make them come true — so that you can look back and think, “Now that was time well spent!”