When we wish for a Do-Over…
Sorry. In the entire of history of mankind, not a single human being has ever been able to change the past. Do-Over’s just aren’t possible. But not to worry. Embracing HOPE allows you to come up with ways to “Do Better.” It’s a simple thought process and can instantly improve your life every time you employ it as your path of choice.
Remember back to your K-12 education? Sometimes when you turned an assignment in, the teacher might come back to you and tell you that they didn’t like your first attempt and that you needed to do it over. I submit that what they were really indicating to you is that you needed to do it better. Imagine if you turned around and submitted the exact same work as a “do-over” and expected a different response from your teacher. There’s an important life lesson contained in this scenario. I call it “Evolution through Improvement” and it impacts all of us every single day.
Think of the country we live in. Is it perfect? Nope. That’s really not a fair question. A question that reveals more of who we really are as a society would be “What improvements have been made over time that has led us to where we are today?” Looking back on our country’s history, there’s a lot of things I wish we could “do over,” but we can’t. What we CAN do is examine things we regret having happened and focus on doing better as we move forward in time. I would caution you at this time not to dwell on the mistakes of the past. Dwell instead on all the improvements that were born from those mistakes as we united to make things better for each succeeding generation.
On a personal level, briefly think of the times in your life where you experienced regret. Spewing words you wished you wouldn’t have, clicking the send button on an email written at a bad moment, a hurtful text message, treating someone poorly who didn’t deserve it, being a bully (whether physically or emotionally), expressing feelings of bitterness and envy, lying, cheating, taking advantage of a situation that resulted in gain for you at the expense of others. While we can wish for a do-over, it’s impossible to get one. What we can get in each case is an opportunity to improve what defines our true character. A chance to “Do Better” than we did before.
Years ago, I remember hearing a thought process that I came to embrace which said, “You’ll be successful in any job/industry if you can consistently claim that you’re better today than you were yesterday.” The better today part of that thought process means that you took some form of action to improve yourself this day. And most actions resulted from a desire to do something better than you previously did. I’ve found that this same thought process works well in someone’s personal life. Are you a better friend today, spouse today, father/mother today, neighbor today, and better all-around person today? If you can consistently answer yes in all those areas of life it would indicate that you’re living a joyful life. Not perfect, but certainly joyful.
Many of us spend a lot of time being our own worst critic unnecessarily. Any time spent on regret, beating ourselves up, or criticizing ourselves is simply a waste of our precious time. Instead, that precious time can be spent coming up with a plan to do better. A plan to do better is a direct path to evolution through improvement. You see, any time we thoughtfully consider our actions that occurred in the past, we can utilize our thoughts to evolve into a better person than we were previously. All we have to do is come up with a plan to “do better” moving forward. This thought process is available to everyone. Here’s the thing…it can only produce results when some form of “action” is engaged. No action, no results. It’s really that simple.
I consistently remind everyone that I Believe In Them! Why? Because I’m convinced that, regardless of the level of education and life experiences, all people are smart. Different and unique in their own way maybe, but everyone is fundamentally smart. Every person on this earth has the ability to learn from their mistakes, their successes, their experiences, and their past if they’ll just engage the “do better” thought process consistently in their life. The carrot? Living a better life! A better life is waiting for you…yes, YOU! if you’ll engage your mind in this simple thought process and take action on what it teaches you. And YOU are worth giving yourself this simple gift every day the rest of your life. Always remember, Hey…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!