Are you looking backward to determine how to move forward? Are you looking to the past to determine what's possible for your future?

What if the past is not a good measure of what's possible or our potential? What if what worked in the past is yesterday's wisdom, and something new is required moving forward? 

When I look to my past, I can find all sorts of evidence of what will or won't work. In my past, I see my struggles and failed attempts, and it looks like my possibilities are limited in certain areas. That must be true – right? I've tried before, and it didn't work, or I've struggled in this area for years. 

All of this seems to confirm that I'm limited in some way. I can believe that anything is possible, but then somehow, when it comes to me, in certain areas, perhaps just not probable. From this place, giving up or getting more “realistic” seems to be the best option.

I've also been frustrated when something that worked in the past doesn't seem to be working now. For instance, I lost weight before following this plan; why can't I stick to it now? This business model worked for me in the past; why isn't it working now? This strategy worked the last time our team had a big goal; why isn't it this time?

What if the past is not the best point of reference for us?  What if the past is not the source of our greatest thinking or the new way forward?

When we look to our past as our frame of reference, it can get confusing. It has been for me. I can get in a loop of trying to figure out why it’s not working and what I'm doing wrong. It must be my discipline, lack of commitment, or lack of structure, and I find myself trying harder and exerting more effort with little to no results.

Looking to our past to decide what's possible or how we should move forward is often a limited view. Memory is limited. Memory is the past revisiting us via thought. We limit our options when we use memory as our point of reference for our future. It is a misunderstanding about where potential and new possibilities reside. 

Potential resides in real-time, in the moment. It has nothing to do with the past. Wisdom, insight, and guidance for our path, our next move, or how to respond to our businesses resides in the here and now. Letting go of the past, of what worked and didn't work before, allows us to listen with a new level of openness. 

All humans come with an incredible potential of the mind to rise to the occasion and to discover a new way forward. Potential and new possibilities are part of our design, but we do not access them via memory or the past.

A fresh perspective, new ideas, and creative solutions are a function of a freer and more present mind. In this space lives new capabilities, new thoughts, new understanding, and new experiences of who we can be. 

We get information and guidance when we orient ourselves to the present moment and listen from the deeper intelligence within. We get nudged for the next move, and as we listen, move, and respond to that inner wisdom, we unfold, and a new strategy or sense of self emerges.

When we are at home, connected to our true nature, in the here and now, we are tapped into an energy force that has unlimited potential for new possibilities. Knowing and seeing this allows us to stay hopeful, curious, and open. 

Our potential is always greater than the problem at hand.