A wasted life of regret

How do we go about communicating to someone that if they continue on the path they are on, they will end in some form, at worst, of destruction, or at best, regret for lost and wasted time?  Distractions, amusements, alternate realities, self centeredness, and play are, or can be, the things that we spend much time upon, but accomplish nothing.  And by "accomplish nothing", I mean nothing of eternal or even temporal value.  Distracting ourselves into oblivion.  At the end of any period of time, what will be the answer when we ask, "What do I now have that I didn't have before I started this?"