Your past doesn't define you; what you do now defines you. What you are committed to do now defines you. If you study the habits and traits of highly successful people and the average or unsuccessful, it is impossible not to see clear differences in their habits and thinking.
One of the biggest differences lies in thinking and living in the past or planning for the future. The majority—and by that, I mean the average and the underachieving among us—think primarily in the past. "This is what happened to me, and if this didn't happen to me, I would be where I want to be today.
I should have done this in the past, and now it's too late. This person wronged me in the past, and that's why I'm not where I want to be. " The past drags them down and beats the life out of them continuously, day in and day out.
They don't take responsibility; they don't believe in the future because they are stuck in the past, so their past repeats itself into the future over and over again. The successful, however, think only in the now and into the future. They set goals for the future—clear targets to push them forward, to light their fire within, and give them passion for living.
They visualize the results coming to reality in the future. They see the future reward, not the initial struggle to bring it to life. They focus not on what they have to go through to get there, but on how they will feel when they get there.
The only way to get to the future, to the big reward, is to take powerful action in the now, in this powerful present moment. All successful people know that each positive and productive present moment leads to a positive and successful future moment. The successful usually have had just as tough a past as the average, but their meaning is different.
Rather than play the victim, they get on with life. Rather than dwell in the past, they plan on how they will create a better life in the future. Rather than use the past as an excuse, they use it as fuel to drive them wherever they need to go.
Use your past as fuel to take you wherever you need to go. If you ever look back, make sure it's only to drive you forward. Don't blame others for your situation; rely on yourself to create a new situation.
Your future starts today, not tomorrow. Plan now; live now. Don't let your past define your future.
Don't you dare let past failures get in the way of your future success. It doesn't matter what happened in the past; the only thing that matters is what you are going to do right now. What are you going to do right now?
