24 of 100 – Don’t Look in the Rearview Mirror

Living with regrets is like driving with your eyes glued to the rear view mirror.  You are looking at where you have been and not at where you are going.  The problem is you cannot change where you have been.  It already happened.  It's in the past.  It cannot be rewritten.

Where you have full control is with your future.  You can decide where you want to go next.  This is where you can be powerful.

A person that is very visible in the Infusionsoft partner community I serve got fired last week.  I don't know the details, but here is someone that:

• is highly respected among his peers,
• is asked to speak often at conferences and
• is a go to person you go to for answers to tough online marketing and technical questions in the field.

Apparently, he isn't a fit at that company.  My comment is, "Their loss."

It's a "been there done that" for me.  I experience three layoffs in corporate America.  I have a good idea what this guy's feeling.  You start thinking, "What could I have done to prevent this?  What mistakes did I make that played a part in my being let go?"  It's all about regrets.

I am an advocate for looking into what led to these events so you can avoid repeating mistakes in the future.  But I'm not an advocate of dwelling on the past and I especially don't promote going back there mentally over and over.  It's not productive.

I believe in a God that looks out for what's best for me.  He'll use my strengths, weaknesses and circumstances to get me where I need to be.  That can mean losing my job so I can be available for an opportunity, learning something from a mistakes I don't already know and preparing me for what needs to happen next in my life.

As I've outlined in previous posts, my being let go is what led to my starting my online marketing agency.  Because of debt, lack of savings and plain out fear, I would have NEVER gone out on my own.  Starting a business can be so intimidating.

Well, when the decision are thrown at you (i.e., Your fired!) and you have no alternative but to take the next best step, starting my business made perfect sense.  It would not have otherwise.

Make sure you know what led to your mistakes so you don't repeat them, but don't dwell on them.  It's in your past.  Glance at your life's rear view mirror occasionally for perspective or maybe just to reminisce.  But keep your eyes glued to the windshield.  Life happens there and it's where you have the power to make the biggest difference in your life and the lives of others.