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Ben Nemtin, former executive producer and star of MTV’s "The Buried Life," is leading the fight against a problem that troubles everyone in a uniquely personal way: Buried dreams.
It refers to any dream or goal that has been abandoned – although not forgotten – like singing the national anthem in front of an audience, throwing the first pitch at a Yankees game or writing a book.
Earlier this summer, Nemtin developed a tool to make sure those dreams don't fall through the cracks. It's called The Bucket List journal, and it helps people write, track and make tangible steps toward their goals.
Nemtin knew it was a problem worth addressing after he came across a Cornell University study in which 76% of participants admitted that one of their biggest regrets in life was not fulfilling their ideal self.
In other words, they were living for other people or a life they thought other people expected of them, Nemtin told Fox News Digital.
Ben Nemtin holding The Bucket List Journal. (Jake Kin)
"I found this pretty troubling because three-quarters of the population will effectively lay on their deathbed and realize, ‘I blew it, my whole life I didn't live it for me'," he said.
Nemtin, a keynote speaker who has been inspiring employees from notable companies such as Amazon, AMEX, Cigna, FedEx and GM to Microsoft to go after their dreams, made it his mission to bring down the percentage of people that die regretting the things they didn't do.
"The Buried Life is named after a poem written 150 years ago which speaks to this human feeling which is…we all have these things that we always wanted to do, but we don't do them because the day-to-day buries them," he said.
Nemtin discovered the severe consequences of that pattern of behavior himself.
In the early 2000s, while attending the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada and training to go to the Rugby World Cup, Nemtin suffered from crippling depression and was eventually dropped from the team and the university. Looking back, he realized that he was "living the high school dream," but it wasn't his.
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So, he finally stopped to think about what he truly wanted. He asked himself one question: "What do you want to do before you die?"
Fueled with new-found ambition, he packed a van with three of his friends in 2006 and set off on a mission across North America to check off 100 items on their bucket list.
"The Buried Life" crew traveling around the country to accomplish their bucket list in 2006. (Ben Nemtin)
However, for every item Nemtin and his friends, Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn and Dave Lingwood accomplished, they made it their goal to help a complete stranger check off something on their list such as helping a young girl get her first prosthetic arm or helping a man meet his biological father for the first time. Suddenly, people from all walks of life started to help them accomplish their goals and asked for help in return.
Their journey turned into a reality documentary series on MTV called "The Buried Life."
"We were surprised that people actually were inspired to write their bucket list because we were going after ours," he said.
Since then, Nemtin has been helping people accomplish their dreams. In doing so, he discovered that there are three major barriers that keep people from pursuing their passion: fear, waiting for inspiration to strike and there are no deadlines.
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The Bucket List Journal helps people overcome those barriers so they can get "back to who they truly are," he said.
It starts by asking them to write down goals in 10 different categories of their life, such as travel and adventure, physical health, creative, professional and relationships. Then, they are asked to write their full list and share it with other people. The journal also prompts them to write down their thoughts before and after they achieve each goal.
Ben Nemtin helps a Utah father who suffered a dramatic brain injury live one of his dreams. (Tucker Trip)
The journal forces people to take time to stop and think about what's important to them and to make sure they're not living for other people, Nemtin said. It also holds you accountable for your goals, so you don't keep waiting for the perfect time to start.
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"You start to build your own momentum and you start moving towards your goal," he added. "Even if you don't know how to you're going to achieve the goal… you start to create 48-hour action items."
Over the years, Nemtin has seen countless individuals become inspired to not only start their own lists but help friends, family members and complete strangers complete their own.
"The more people that do what they love, it will change the world," he said. "When you do what you love, you inspire other people to do what they love. And that's the ripple effect."
At times when people find themselves "buried" by their day-to-day tasks, they can turn to their journals to remind themselves that their dreams haven't gone anywhere.
