Brainstorm about your thesis statement. This should be something that a personal life story can serve as backup for --- for example, the thesis statement of "missed opportunities in childhood can lead to an adult with powerful drive and motivation."
Write an anecdote from your real life that can back up your thesis statement. For example, write a story about how you hesitated to audition for a school play and how sitting and watching the play months later haunted you. Include vivid descriptions of how you felt sitting in the dark auditorium, watching the play you had desperately wanted to be a part of. Describe the room, the actors and the emotions you felt in order to bring the scene to life for the reader.
Relate the experience to your life as an adult. Relay an event or experience in your life where that memory of regret pushed you into doing something that profoundly affected your life. For example, write about contacting a business executive about acquiring an internship. Discuss how you were nervous and apprehensive about approaching him, but your memories of regret motivated you to go for it.
Work in details throughout the essay that pertain to your upbringing and family life. This could include details about your father staying at a job he hated for years because he was afraid to try something new. It could also relay details about your siblings and how they always seemed to take the limelight from you. Any biographical details you include should relate back to support your overall thesis.
Interview family members who can impact your thesis. For example, interview your mother about her decision to give up her career to raise her children. Her regrets could be worked into the paper by explaining how seeing her regrets influenced you. Interview an older sibling about his impressions of you as a child and whether you were ambitious or passive. Record your interviews so you do not miss important details or quotes.
Add research and information from medical studies on the points you are addressing. Seek out studies that coincide with your points that childhood regrets can impact you as an adult.
Conclude the thesis with your strongest points on utilizing our regrets from childhood to motivate us as adults. Tie in all your previous points and explain with strong quotes and statements why your thesis is correct.