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Now is the only time that matters

Guest post by: Ian Berry

Article Overview: There is no doubt in my mind that if we pay undue attention to our past or our future, we severely inhibit our performance in the present. In my observation the people who consistently perform at high levels at those folk who are experts at focusing in the now. Elite athletes describe this as being in the zone. Wayne Dyer stated the obvious when he said “you can’t change the past.”, yet for many of us the past has a hold over us. We can’t do much about the future either, expect to be ready for it.

Now is the only time that matters

© Ian Berry. All rights reserved. There is no doubt in my mind that if we pay undue attention to our past or our future, we severely inhibit our performance in the present.

In my observation the people who consistently perform at high levels at those folk who are experts at focusing in the now. Elite athletes describe this as being in the zone.

Wayne Dyer stated the obvious when he said “you can’t change the past.”, yet for many of us the past has a hold over us. We can’t do much about the future either, expect to be ready for it.

If you are a past oriented person then it is likely that you

• are continually thinking about what might have been
• have regrets and dwell on them
• spend time wishing you could change what has happened
• are hesitant about doing what you know you should do because of your thoughts about what happened last time
• are often reflecting on your mistakes and failures
• tell stories about the past so as to relive the glory
• raise a past success in order to prove your worth to someone else

None of these things are necessarily bad within themselves, however if they are your major focus then you are missing opportunities in the present.

If you are a future oriented person (I am) then it is likely that you

• are continually thinking about what could be
• often get annoyed with what is because you feel a different reality should exist
• spend a lot of time dreaming about the future
• regularly aren’t clear on what happened because at the time you were thinking about something else
• think more about outcomes than you do about processes
• get frustrated when others don’t see to see the way forward as clearly as you feel you do
• are often physically present yet emotionally and mentally somewhere else

None of these things are necessarily bad within themselves, however if they are your major focus then you are missing opportunities in the present.

The good news about our past is that we have

• experienced many defining moments and through them learned the key lessons that when we live them enable us to be our best in any given moment
• positive memories that continue to inspire us
• deposited much in our universal, spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical capital accounts that we can withdraw from whenever we need to
• learned what to do and what not to do in order to be successful

The good news about our future is that

• if we have truly have learned from our past we are ready for whatever the future will be
• we only have control over our feelings, thoughts, and actions in each moment and we can change them anytime we choose to
• following the right processes for us in the moment means the future will take care of itself

Be the difference you want to see in the world

Ian

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Article Tags: change, doubt in my mind, elite athletes, high performance, undue attention



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