The Looking Back Thing

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Looking back has tremendous value. I'm not referring to looking back with regret. Looking back with regret usually leads to mental paralysis. I'm speaking of looking back to gain perspective and clarity.

For me, a large part of the looking back thing is getting a sense of the notes God's been playing in the symphony of life. This has helped me be more aware of what the future could look like. My gut becomes centered around knowing what my next move should be. Here recently, the movement in that symphony tells me change is coming in my life.

Now before you think this is some overly spiritual pursuit or a complex riddle to solve, it can be very straightforward if you let it. For example, let's say your history in work has been most successful in large organizations. Maybe you've excelled there because of structure and well-established processes. Now, a new, smaller organization wants you to come on board and do your magic. Looking back will help you understand where you've performed best and what environments work best for you. It doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't work for a small organization because they're still forming, it just means looking back can inform you of where you perform best. It might even be a predictor of your success. I've had to make more than a few mistakes in this dept. to learn this.

The following are what I consider to be keys to the looking back thing:

  • Stay away from regret when looking back. You can't rewrite history, so no sense in lingering over what could have been. This is hard work and your wellbeing will be the better for it.
  • Be humble. Don't think of yourself as rock star. An inflated ego will always distort your view.
  • Look back to inform and keep record of it. Refer back to it often.
  • Don't look for guarantees. Be willing to make a mistake. Often, mistakes lead to breakthroughs. 
  • Find someone or people to be a sounding board for what you're thinking.
  • Get a coach. It can help you clear the clutter and find the gold hidden.

Yesterday’s Post

Just so you know, yesterday's post was a "re-post" from early 2008.  I forgot to note that.

It's important to look back and get a glimpse of your thinking at a certain point in time…only way to connect the dots.

Yesterday Follows, As I Learn

Leadership means everything…ask Churchill, King, Jr., Jobs, Graham, Teresa. 

I usually write with strong opinion and certainty.  Not wavering here, but I hope those leaders mentioned would agree that yesterday's lessons only took root when they "learned."  And isn't learning a vital part of influence?

It's a mysterious thing walking into a future.  We need yesterday to be a follower.  We need yesterday to be the threads of a tapestry called life. 

If it doesn't matter, then why the smile and the pursuit.  Certainly, we were made for more.  Now I know that everything does matter…every dance, every embrace, every sip, every beautiful melody.

Bear with me as I try to understand what I have become.

"I'm crossing that bridge with lessons I've learned."

– Seal