Are you focused on your past or your future?

Have you ever noticed how athletes can almost forget a previous play and focus on exactly what’s happening in the moment? They have the uncanny ability to leave a good or bad play in the past and invest all their energy into the next play. And you’ll see over time that the ones that are not able to cultivate their ability to leave the plays behind, especially bad plays, are the ones that choke under pressure.

Now you might also be aware that whether they win or lose the best athletes do study post-game footage in order to learn both from their errors and successes. So you see, although they’re able to forget previous plays in the moment, they still invest time in learning from their past.

How can you implement this next play mentality into your life?

Well, you can take a page from the athlete’s playbook and apply it to your life. You’re not required to hold on to errors and mistakes you’ve made in the past, but you can absolutely learn from them. Yes, reviewing a previous mistake might cause some temporary mental anguish, but once you’ve learned all the lessons you can from that mistake, let it remain the past and focus on your next play.

The ability to move on without constantly putting your past in front of you is a great skill to develop and you’ll also find it extremely liberating. So, the next time you find yourself ruminating over an error or mistake you made in your past, think like an athlete. Learn from your mistake and then move on to your next play.

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it please share it with one person you love.