How to Let Go of Your Past and Grab Your Future

Have you ever thought about your life so much you end up wondering why you have one?

You’re not alone.

I’ve been there too, consumed with thoughts of my past and opinions of my future. And it’s led me to believe that life for anyone can be so much different than it is now.

Maybe not…

Maybe it’s not that easy for you to think about what you want. But that doesn’t mean our lives ahead of us aren’t foreseeable. Our futures hold a lot of power because they either motivate us to do big things or they don’t.

Close your eyes and imagine for a moment.

No, really. Close your eyes and imagine what that life could be for you. The family you have, the car you drive, the dream job you’ve always wanted, living where you dreamed of, etc.

But when you open your eyes again, is that the lifestyle you have?

Maybe, like me, you’ve sat in your thoughts for endless nights, wondering what the next day or next month or next year will hold. If another day, you even deserve it. You’ve painted pictures using your imagination of the life you want to live. You can almost visualize every detail about it. However, you don’t know where to begin.

We find ourselves thinking about our past experiences, and sometimes we glue them to our emotions. If you’ve been stuck in the past before, you know the feeling I’m talking about.

I remember, for about two years of my teenage years, waking up every day with a poisonous mindset because of something that was bothering me from the day before. And these negative thoughts occupied my head every day. It was something I could no longer change, but it was transforming me. And that was the biggest problem I ever had, waking up and finding reasons to be pissed off and unhappy. It wasn’t fun, but I blamed my past for how I was behaving with myself. I didn’t know where else to point fingers, and I certainly didn’t want any aiming at me. My future never had a light on it, so it was hard for me to find it.

Then it hit me like a freight train.

For years, I buried myself in holes with my head. What I missed was how I was using my mental energy. I never once gave my future as much attention as I did my past – something you can change!

How Do You Do That?

It’s simple.

Take all the secret desires you have for your future and hold those thoughts as long as you can while you are doing your thing. Letting go of the past requires us to get the best grip we can on our future. You know the lifestyle you want. You know what you want to be doing on Sundays and Mondays and every single day of the week. Your dream job. Your dream car. Your dream home. Your dream family. And the self you want to be that makes you happy.

How Does This Work?

I encourage you to sit down for just 5 minutes this week in a spot where you can hear nothing but the clock and close your eyes and begin to outline your future. Think about the things you haven’t yet. Give yourself permission to tackle this zone in your life you haven’t seen before. Do this, and your actions and your decisions will start to align themselves with the future you have thought about most. Your present will become more and more similar to that of the future you created.

Remember that there is no one on this planet like you. No one has or will be in the same shoes you ever wore. That is what makes you unique. That sets you apart. Don’t forget that.

And do me a favor: give it your all. It’s the least you deserve.

Christian