Last week I posted a blog about not getting caught up in your past, not letting your past failures keep you from moving forward…I actually said “the past doesn’t even exist”. But maybe we should look back from time to time, after all, there can be a lot of value in retracing  parts of our story.

When Should we Look Back?

I can think of three good reasons to look back in our history:

  1. When we can Learn Something
  2. For Motivation
  3. To Build Confidence

Let’s take a closer look at each one and see if we can leverage our history to propel our future success.

Look Back to Learn Something:

Some of our greatest learning opportunities come from some of our most difficult times. Several years ago I was in the residential construction business and occasionally we would have a project that wasn’t very profitable, in fact, some we actually lost money. I would spend hours looking back at what went wrong.

I would ask questions like: did we order too much material, did we source our material from the wrong vendor, did we have more labor hours than we anticipated, were we encumbered by poor site conditions, or was the weather a major factor?…Then the big question, How can we prevent this from happening again?

The key point is, not to let prior mistakes, or poor judgement keep you from moving forward. Look back to learn, then proceed forward with more knowledge.

Look Back For Motivation!

There is just something about looking back at past success and past failures to motivate us to even better future results. I have used some of my earlier speaking presentations to motivate me to improve my presentation skills in order to have greater impact on y audience.

What’s interesting is that I have been motivated by poor performances because I didn’t want to feel that sense of failure again, and I’ve been motivated by some pretty good presentations because I loved the results and wanted to experience those results more consistently.

Look for past experiences that will motivate you to experience better results.

To Build Confidence.

There are two great ways to build confidence:  The first is to take action and do it well, and the other actually makes the first easier…look back at times when you were victorious over difficult circumstances. Take some time to remember overcoming obstacles to experience great results.

If you look back through your life, you will be amazed at some of the things you’ve been able to accomplish despite challenging circumstances. Go ahead and be a little impressed with yourself from time to time…people love to do business with confident people, not arrogant, but confident. We need to seek humility, but there is nothing wrong with allowing past successes help propel future achievements.

Looking Back Can Create Forward Momentum!

Take a few minutes and look back to Learn, Be Motivated, and to gain Confidence, it’s a great step forward in being more Intentional About Our Legacy!

Blessings,

Randell