There will be numerous times during your days where you will start thinking of mistakes you have made in the past, and about how they are affecting you today. The first response one should have would be to toss these thoughts away, because they don’t provide any benefits. However, there can be times where these thoughts seem to overpower your efforts to resist them. Here is how to handle these times:
The negative thoughts of past mistakes that don’t leave your mind can be neutralized by recognizing, as they arrive, that the times of much error represent some of the best times in the improvement of your life. The only reason they can now be viewed as large mistakes is because you know you would be highly against committing them again. This is a big difference from the mindset you had before you made the large mistake, when you didn’t know the full results of the mistake.
To appreciate this fact, you have to keep your thoughts working for long-term results. Our minds tend to want to stick to thinking in the short-term, because it is easier to do and is more event-based. This tendency should be negated by remembering that long-term results are more important because they include short-term results in them.
To illustrate the point, the next 500 days includes the next 3 days. If you make decisions that are intent on successful development for the next 500 days, you can be certain that the next 3 days will go fine since they are a part of the bigger package. However, if your current decisions are only based on the success of the next 3 days, you have no mental protection/planning/preparation for the 497 days after that. This is proof that long-term planning and actions based on this planning will always result in more success than working off of short-term effects and mainly responding to your current environmental variables.
Long-term thinking works in this way to calm or reduce the tough feelings one might have when recalling past mistakes. If tossing the thoughts away does not appear to be doable, thinking in broader terms can have a positive effect.
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I really liked the 3 days versus the 500 days comparison you made. I never really thought about it like that. I know a lot of people make goals for the month, or even for the week, but very few have those “5 year plans” and such…
I think that having an overall plan in mind is great, especially with a clear goal at the end to achieve. However, life can be pretty unpredictable, and there are times when the next 500 days just can’t be planned accordingly. I think we also have to remember to be flexible in planning for the future. Options!
Thank you for that Corey. It sure is a different way of thinking about which decisions to follow. A 10-day plan is probably more useful than a 1-day plan, unless a person is in a mode of momentum and is continuously weaving their way through their goal.
On that second note, life sure might seem to be unpredictable, but some might say that it is quite predictable, as variables that were once unknown are added to our web of understanding day-by-day.
@Armen
I think that’s where the idea of “evolving” comes in. Since we naturally learn from mistakes anyways. We can anticipate “preventable occurances” but there are still those random acts of nature, sometimes great, sometimes terrible.
I would add in that those random acts of nature appear to be getting slightly less random as days pass, since they are analyzed and trends are extrapolated towards the coming period of time.
@Armen
Well I think you have to consider how you analyze factors that affect your life. Statistically speaking, I’ll continue to drink Dr. Pepper because I like it. However, there will still be that day when I find out I’m allergic to Mt. Dew because I tried something new. You have to factor in people’s willingness to explore. But we definitely learn from mistakes. Still, we make more.
I like the idea of setting a long term goal and breaking that into a series of steps or short term goals.
I remember when I was younger and in the Army I would concentrate on just a few feet ahead while on a long run or road march. I seemed to make it easier. Then as I got older and started driving a truck I quickly learned to look ahead as far as possible. That way I could be prepared for problems before I was on top of them.
Anything is better than those that wake up each morning without any direction at all. I just couldn’t get by like that.
Brian: That example you have provided about looking just a few feet ahead while walking is an action that is quite suitable only when we are building up momentum with each step. If someone notices that they are moving quicker and quicker on the correct path, long-term plans can be temporarily disregarded in order to focus on the current progress.
Waking up without direction might appear to be enjoyed by those that are in that mindset, but they tend to look back on that time as tossed away for the most part.
Dwelling on mistakes can produce negativity and one must learn to manage one’s thought when dealing with the past. We are make mistakes, but the biggest achievement is learning from them. Sometimes things we try, are just a little ahead of our time, so what doesn’t work today, may work tomorrow or in the near future.
While is is a good thing to have a long term plan of your project, it needs to be broken drop into steps to achieve your final goal. These steps have to be within your search, so knowing your limits are something we are should be aware of. But, at the same time, knowing your limits, one must push forward to break that barrier to learn new things.
We as people have a way of getting comfortable working in our safe zone. And that, can get you hamper you from achieving your long term goals.
Squeaky: You remind us of an important way to continue performing, which is to stay out of a comfort zone. Some examples of this are sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair, not being satisfied with the current progress one has made towards a goal, and making a “risky” social connection with someone. We progress most when we aren’t completely on stable ground.
i find some sort of time line is necessary to plot some steps toward a goal; being always ready to shift gears when things go AWOL.
the difference between 3 and 500 days would have to be significant, given the complexity involved in plotting ahead based on historical and constant variables.
a lotus grows from mud; we each have a journey with challenges and treasures.
step by step, learning, is basic science
Char (Online Tutor: Academic Mentor)’s last blog post..Using Humor at Exam Time: With guest blogger Dan Brantly
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Great thought and original way of conveying it. I like it.
I think tackling life in this way also enables one to be authentic.
Juliet
Char: A time-line is noticeably helpful in understanding one’s own plans. The difference between 3 and 500 days is large in value, but it may not be as large in reality as we might assume beforehand. I looked up that Lotus flower there, and it is distinctive.
Juliet: I would match with that point-of-view as well, as long-term thinking provides us with a way to better represent our actual selves through time, as obstacles are overcome, and we are still able to keep our personality intact.