Ibnul-Jawziyy, may Allah have mercy on him said, when addressing his son
“Know, my son, may Allah guide you to truth, that man was not distinguished with the intellect except to work according to its judgments. Prepare your mind, use your reflection, and seclude yourself. You will know through evidence that you are an accountable creation; that you have obligations with which you are charged; that the two angels are tallying your words and looks; and that the breaths of the living being are one’s steps towards the end of one’s life; that staying in the world is short; that imprisonment in the grave is long; and that the torture for following the bad inclinations is weighty.
Where is the (forbidden) enjoyment of yesterday? It departed and left regret behind.
The one whose life ended well did not do so except by disagreeing with one’s bad inclination. The one whose life ended badly did not do so except by preferring one’s present life (over the next life).”