Many of us live in the past. We go over mistakes, shortfalls, and failures until we make ourselves sick. Yes, we should focus on the past long enough to learn the lesson, but we must move on!
Farnam Street nailed this concept in their weekly blog:
“Don’t let your worst moments become your story. You blow the presentation and spend the drive home scripting perfect comebacks to an audience that’s already gone. Your relationship ends and you spend months replaying conversations that can’t be changed. All the time spent perfecting the past is stolen from the future that’s still waiting. The past is a teacher, not a judge. Your next move matters more than your last mistake.”
Failure is not a bad thing. The outcomes of our decisions should be viewed as feedback, whether good or bad. Either way, we should make adjustments and move forward.
Failure becomes problematic when we obsess over it. Trying to relive our past becomes a mountain that we can never get over. For business decisions, improve your feedback loop to avoid the same pitfalls. This enables our decision-making skills to improve over time.
For personal decisions gone wrong, it’s best to admit you made a mistake. Owning up to our mistakes and asking forgiveness where appropriate is a big step in the healing process. Don’t let your pride compound the problem by blaming someone else. We all have our own part in our failures. We are not victims. Don’t let yourself develop a victim mindset, which is the most crippling of all.
Learning to move forward, instead of falling back after a setback is the best habit we can develop. Use failures as stepping stones and leave the past in the past!
Quote Worth Re-Quoting
“Some people walk in the rain, while others just get wet.” ~ Roger Miller