When Success from the Past Hinders your Success in the Future
Some people get so caught up in what they did in the past that they seem to stop striving for the future. It’s easy to gloat about past accomplishments, and true you should take pride in them, and use them to affirm your ability. However, if all you do is dwell on the past it can be easy to miss opportunities for the future because you’re too busy looking backward instead of forwards. There are a lot of reasons people fall into this trap, today we are just going to look at a few.
The first one is based on fear. The world is always changing and things are vastly different today than they were even twenty years ago. It can be rough starting over, and winning often takes effort. That’s not to say that it was a cake walk in the past either, but things have changed, there are new rules to follow. If you are put in this position the best place to start is educating yourself and actively peruse your goal and seek to move forward.
Another thing that holds people back is that they are unwilling to learn. When you’ve succeeded in the past having someone else tell you about something that may work can feel a bit patronizing, but it’s important to remember that good advice and lessons can come from anyone. Don’t assume that someone can’t teach you something, at the very least listen first before determining if his or her advice is plausible or not.
And lastly, you could be overestimating your own ability. It can be easy to think you can repeat something simply because you’ve done it in the past. That’s not to say the task you are trying to complete cannot be done, but if it is a large task ration out your time and pace yourself wisely so you can work without overexerting yourself.