Reversing Time: Worrying about the PAST
Photo by Hadija Saidi on Unsplash
As we dig into the our 3 part blog on our internal conflict with TIME and how to resolve it- we start with our reversal of time, where we are not present to what is happening today, but living in the past.
Part 1: Reversing Time: Worrying about the past
Fear has a great way of casting doubt and having us scrutinize our actions and thoughts. It leads to ruminating over what has already happened, getting caught up in the past, stopping us from moving forward by creating limiting beliefs. One of my favorite lines in a meeting where people were discussing upcoming system changes: ‘If we had not gone with this solution 5 years ago, we would not have to be thinking about these changes now!’ The fear of the unknown impact or thinking about what may have been a bad experience in the past, is only that - the PAST. The emotions triggered by fear keep us from really seeing what is needed or different NOW.
TIP: A powerful and curious question to break the trigger is ‘What do I/we know now that we did not know before?’ The best thing about what has happened in the past, is it has left us with learnings that if we take the time to apply, will always help us going forward.
For example, building in time within a project plan to review mid way what learnings have occurred and determine if the original outcome is still in line with the goal of the client. OR, has something else occurred that changes the experience, impact and outcome that is worth having a conversation about it?
This week, when you catch yourself in worrying about the past- pause, get curious, ask the question above and then decide on what action to take. Try it in your next team meeting where there is conflict on moving forward on a task, goal or project. I bet you will be surprised about the abundance of perspective it brings and the collaboration that comes from it!