Stuck In Reverse

Do you ever find yourself thinking about the past and the more you allow yourself to do so, the easier it becomes to remember the past and incidents that you would rather not remember? Perhaps something has happened at work that caused you to experience a feeling of frustration or disappointment and that setback caused you to begin reflecting on other moments when you experienced the same type of feelings. What happens in those moments is that we turn our attention away from the future and where it is we would like to go, along with the goals that we have established and are working towards, and we end up getting stuck in reverse.

How do you recognize those times when you are stuck in the past and unable to move forward? You are likely to reach a sticking point when you think about your goals and look to the future with a sense of apprehension or fear. When you begin to question your ability to change or to make changes in your life or your career, that's the time when looking at the past has caused you to question the beliefs that you hold about your ability to change. Sometimes we look to the past to try to understand decisions that have been made or find answers related to where we currently are at this time. Often that produces a greater sense of frustration, especially when those answers are not readily available. Is important to remember that looking at the past is a conscious decision, just as looking to the future is.

Every day you are making decisions. Some of your decisions will require planning, concentrated effort, focused determination, and others may require no thought at all. One of the most important decisions that you can make concerns the direction of your thoughts and how you want to feel for the day. You can decide that you want to feel good about your life and your career regardless of past decisions, which may include accomplishments as well as mistakes. When you decide to look forward or look ahead at your life and career you are making a conscious decision that there is potential for an improved result and you take your thoughts out of reverse, realizing that the only way to truly feel good about yourself is to consider a future full of opportunities. When you have moments of self-doubt and questions, acknowledge those concerns and then focus towards the goals you want to reach. The most powerful words you can say to yourself are: I'm ready for my future, now. Look forward to what you will become and who you will be.

My best,

Dr. J