Most of us have heard quotes like “look at life through the windshield and not through the rearview mirror.” That’s great and all, but you still have a past. If you ignore and deny your past it will constantly nag at you, and you won’t be able to move on. How about, using your past to get you to where you want to go? Use your past life experiences to determine what you will no longer allow, what to learn from them, and to show yourself what you have overcome.
Use your past to show you what you have overcome.
Look at your past, to show you the obstacles that you have overcome. Your past is your triumph story. Maybe you had a child or a sibling die, but you got through it. Maybe you grew up in an abusive home, but you got out of it. Maybe you came from a low-income family, and you went to college or pursued your dream anyway. The list of things could go on and on, but the point is, most of us have had some hardship at some point in our lives. All of these things that you have overcome should show you that you are a warrior if you let them. How could you use that hardship you overcame, to make life better for someone else? How can you use it as your fuel to move forward?
Now, recall an obstacle from your past, that you overcame. Think of all of the small steps along the way to get to where you are today. When you look at each frustration or challenge on the micro-scale it may suck, but when you look at the big picture, it’s pretty rewarding. Think of that obstacle you overcame, list out every single thing you had to overcome to make success happen. For example, when I started my blog, I didn’t know how to use WordPress, MailChimp, Canva, how to create a landing page, or make a free resource. If all of that sounds like a foreign language to you, that’s okay it did to me too. The list of things I didn’t know was crazy and frustrating at the moment. Now I can look back at all of the things I have learned in the past year and be proud of what I accomplished. You can do the same thing. Sometimes you don’t realize how far you’ve come until you take a moment to reflect on it! Also realize, if you overcame something in the past, you can do it again. Just repeat the learning process.
Use your past to learn from your “failures.”
The failures of your past are so important to learn from. George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Remember the past and move on. What often happens, is you fail and then you beat yourself up over it. You call yourself stupid and to hang your head. Instead, ask yourself, what lesson can I learn from this? The more experience you have in your past the more opportunity you have to learn and grow. Many successful people have failed way more than you and I have, they were just more resilient. They got back up and tried again or they pivoted in a different direction. You likely encourage others to get up, dust themselves off and try again. Are you following your own advice?
Use your past to determine what you won’t allow.
Your past provides you with life experience; use that experience to determine what you won’t allow in your life. You probably have gone through situations where you allowed someone to treat you in a way you shouldn’t have allowed. At the time you may have been young and naïve, you didn’t know better, or you weren’t in a place where you could speak up for yourself. Maybe your parents, spouse or friend didn’t treat you right. That’s okay. You got this now because you are grown and have life experience. From those experiences, you did learn that you can get through it and be resilient and that you don’t have to allow it in your life any longer. Take a second to soak that last second in and remind yourself of your strength and resilience. Now, determine that you deserve better, and if that situation were to present itself again in the future, you simply wouldn’t allow it!
How you think about your past can be so vital to how you think about your future. Zig Ziglar said, “You are a success when you have made friends with your past, are focused on the present, and are optimistic about your future.” Everything you have experienced in your life has happened for a reason because it has brought you to where you are now! You couldn’t possibly have the house, life, spouse, career, etc., that you have now if you hadn’t gone through all the things that you have. If you are feeling down on yourself, like you wish you were someplace different in life, that’s okay too. Take what we’ve just talked about, determine how your experience has helped mold you, and move forward. It’s not too late to change your perspective, and to try to live the life of your dreams.
Today: make friends with your past and think of 1 lesson a hardship has taught you! Comment below and let me know. Marie
P.S. Is there anything you would like to read more about in the blog? Let me know in the comments and send me an email at ordinarytobadass@gmail.com.
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