Give Yourself a Psychological Do Over

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ~ Viktor E. Frankl

Figuring out what life is all about can involve years and years of searching. In fact, if you’ve given up on that task recently, please re-consider picking up the last discovery you had. There is always so much more. It’s kind of what infinity is all about.

One of the things we learn about in life is who and what we are, and this job can be filled with either great joy or great sorrow. I’m hoping there’s more joy than sorrow in your discoveries. If it’s predominantly sad, have faith. I’m going to share some tips to help you turn that around into joy.

I’d like to share some ideas you might enjoy mulling over, as they can help you see both where you’ve been, how far you’ve come, and some places still left for you to explore. Enjoy the trip.

Love Your Past. There isn’t one human being alive who set out with the best of intentions and who made bad decisions despite these intentions. You could grouse about your mistakes or you could embrace them. I know that every single mistake made helps us move forward. It might not be the direction you wanted, but it was forward. Forward is good. Your past formed you into the YOU you are today, so I encourage you to love all that it contained.

Take a Good Long Look. Okay, I’m going to give you a chance to take a good long look at your past and figure out all of its “Why’s.” Please do whatever you need to do for as long as you need to do it to recognize that all that happened was designed to happen exactly in the way it did. I hope you’ll trust me on this, because it is pure truth.

Release Your Past. I realize that I told you first to love it. I want you to make peace with it. I want you to recognize that every single thing that happened was essential to get you where you are today. You would not have the personality and the character you have were it not for your past. It is now time to stop living there because the Past is passed and you can’t do one darn thing about it.

Don’t Sour Your Future With the Past. I had war in my past. I didn’t like it. I don’t allow myself to dwell on it because it sullies my present if I do, and it wastes my right now moments when I could be concentrating on creating a better future. Acknowledge what was and move into today where your actions will create some good for yourself.

Party! Regardless of whom you are; regardless of what you’ve been through; regardless of what things happened to you or did not happen to you; despite everything, you survived. You are here to talk about it. Your survival makes you a success. Par-tay!

If Only I Knew Then What I Know Now. This statement is typical of people who grouse about the past and it’s just a bit silly. If you didn’t go through the experiences you went through, you wouldn’t know what you know now. But you DO know it now, so why not consider giving yourself a Do-Over without all that stuff from your past. I like to think of it as giving you a Personal History-ectomy! Just you, knowing what you know, marching bravely into your future success.

This new you has no more old history. There aren’t any labels left hanging on you. They’re all gone. You’re a fresh new you.

You don’t have any problems. You have never failed to be successful in anything you’ve ever tried. You are a can-do person and once your mind is made up, you just jump in there and get it done – splendidly done, I might add.

You’ve always had a dream tucked inside you but you never before thought you could make it come true. Well, you can, because you know now what you didn’t know then, so why not make it work for you just as it works for other folks? Put it down on paper in big steps. Add some dates to the accomplishment of those steps. Break each big step down into smaller steps and go for it.

The new you was born while you read this article. You are creating a new history of personal success for yourself and the old, musty past is gone forever.