When you are trying to do or achieve something that you have not done before, it’s natural to look backwards in your life for evidence that it can be done.
The problem with this is that if you’ve never done it before, there is no evidence. Your search will come up empty and you will come to the conclusion that your goal is impossible.
This is a false conclusion, however. Just because you never did it, doesn’t mean it can’t be done. You’re just looking in the wrong place.
Instead of looking to your past, you want to look to your future for evidence of what you can achieve.
When no evidence exists in your past, turn to your future self, the person who has already achieved everything that you want, and use HER as proof of your capabilities.
Use your future self as a guiding light that shines the way for you to achieve all of your dreams.
Picture her being exactly where you want to be, doing what you want to do, feeling what you want to feel and believing what you want to believe.
Your future self is just as real as your past self. You just haven’t met her yet.
Get to know her. Learn from her. Absorb her wisdom.
This may sound silly to some people. They think that the past is real, but your future is made up.
That’s not true at all.
Have you ever talked to two people who were in the same situation?
Maybe they witnessed an event or maybe they grew up in the same household with the same parents.
How did they describe that situation?
In two completely different ways!
Even if you could break down a past event into absolute facts, two people will have two completely different experiences because their stories are different. The thoughts they had about those facts are what makes their experience so unique. This is even true for identical twins witnessing the exact same event.
Our past is no more real than our future.
We tell ourselves stories about our past all the time. Why not tell yourself the story you want to hear about your future?
Why is that any less valuable or realistic?
Next time you find yourself saying things like:
“This will never work.”
“I’ve tried it before.”
“This is just who I am.”
“I’ve always been overweight.”
“I’m addicted to sugar.”
“I can’t change.”
“I’m not strong enough.”
or any other number of things that have to do with what you’ve done or not done or believed about yourself for so long, just recognize that you are being past focused.
It’s time to turn around and look towards the future.
Look down the road ahead and follow it to where you want to be … your future self who has it all figured out.
If you want learn how coaching can help you become more future focused, schedule a free call with me at the link below or you can email me at mindfuldocmom@gmail.com.
