Reading Time: 3 minutes

Yesterday, I had a breakthrough while out for a run and walk. I ran to a great coffee shop just by the seaside to the south of Dublin, Ireland. I sat on a bench overlooking the Dublin Bay, turned off the podcast I was listening to, and allowed my mind to think freely.

Looking Backwards

Sometimes I can’t help but think that I’ve wasted time and opportunities.  That I should have been building digital courses and other digital content and now I’ve missed out. Or I beat myself up for not having written more, blogged more, or written a book by now. Essentially, I worry about the time that has passed and what I didn’t do. A feeling of regret comes over me and I wonder if I missed out and now it’s too late.

This feeling especially hits me as I’m embarking on one of those activities I wish I would have started sooner.

And then I had a breakthrough moment

Yesterday, I realized I keep looking back in order to look forward.  I look to what I’ve done to figure out what I can offer tomorrow. And when I do that, I tend to focus on what I didn’t do or didn’t build that I don’t have available to offer today. And that makes me focus on everything that’s missing and makes my future outlook less exciting.

But what I’m not considering is that the best is yet to come.

Everything I have done in the last 13 years since I embarked on my first reinvention is a part of me now. It’s part of my DNA, part of my thinking, part of my being. There is a great work I have built, completed, and delivered and it is all a part of me now. These past successes, failures, lessons, and experiences will forever be a part of what I do tomorrow.

So that means that…

My ability to learn new things today is better than it has ever been and will only get better.

My processing and analysis is better today because of everything I already know and have experienced. And it will only get better.

If I reread a book today, I’ll get significantly more out of it than I did when I first read it. Any new books I read, I’ll get more than I would have 10, 5, or even 1 year ago.  

I am evolving and constantly iterating myself and my approach.

Whatever I write today could never have been written even a year ago, let alone 5 or 10 years ago.

Any products or services that I build or deliver today are better than they have ever or could have ever been. And this will only get better if I continue to create, experience, and learn.

I need to stop looking backwards to look forward when it comes to my career, impact, and business.  I haven’t missed out. I’ve been building myself up.

And the best is yet to come.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

Chinese Proverb