I’m not one to stay in the past very long… I like moving forward, thinking ahead, having goals and working towards them. I tend to believe that when we are constantly looking to the past, we either get stuck and think, “those are the glory days”, nothing can be as good as back then, and therefor stop moving forward and change /grow as needed. Or, we allow ourselves to get overwhelmed by the future and all the possible good and bad, that we never move forward.
The past can definitely teach us things and show us what HAD worked in the past. It can also show us what was definitely a bad idea given the circumstances at the time ~ hindsight is 20/20, right?
And that can be a whole other BLOG post …. 🤔
Today I want to talk about how it is important to spend a little bit of time looking at the past to show us how far we’ve come. When you’re an entrepreneur, it is so easy to look at the accomplishments of others and the seeming speed in which they were accomplished. It can be discouraging when we compare where we are now to where someone else currently is - never considering all the road blocks they’ve encountered or the amount of effort they were able to commit.
When we reflect on what life was like before we started, what our goals were back then to today, it can be very encouraging.
I remember when I started my Rodan + Fields business, I didn’t know what to think. I had never started a business like this before. I thought, at the bare minimum, I would just be covering my own skincare costs and helping a few friends with their skin… Then when I had seen some amazing women on my team accomplishing amazing things through this business it definitely enlightened me to the possibilities, and then I started to run! But like all things that are worth doing, it’s not always easy. It takes time, effort, growth, consistency and being willing to hear the word no, a lot.
When you’re an entrepreneur you don’t do it because the road is going to be easy peasy… we do it because we know that we have something that people need and we know the value of what we’re offering.
But when we forget where we were when we started, it’s easy to forget that we’re always on a journey. We’re definitely moving forward if we’re doing all the things, but we can get distracted by the fact that we haven’t “arrived” at our destination yet. Don’t forget though, I don’t believe that a true entrepreneur ever “arrives”… we’re always seeing the possibilities and the value in different opportunities. We thrive on helping people and being able to offer incredible things that they will benefit from. There’s always room for more. That’s what makes us special, I think.
So, although I would never encourage you to keep looking backwards instead of keeping your head in the game, I do encourage you to take the time once in a while to look at how far you’ve come. That even though some people will never understand why you’re doing something, or if it seems like your lane is the slow lane and others seems to be moving faster than you, the truth is that you are still moving forward and are a lot farther down the road than when you started. Keep your chin up! You’ve got this! 🏁
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