{"id":49890,"date":"2020-12-21T01:29:34","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T07:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=49890"},"modified":"2020-12-21T01:29:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T07:29:34","slug":"how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each December as I get ready to set my goals for the upcoming new year, I do this pivotal step first. I take the time to <\/span>think backward<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>complete the past.<\/span><\/i> By doing so, I am able to close that chapter and fully move forward into the next year. But how do you effectively think backward?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For many of us, avoidance comes much easier than truly addressing our past. It has been tempting for me to do that as well. It\u2019s hard to analyze what went wrong and sort through the emotions that come with disappointment or failures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe it is worth it. Thinking backward will allow you to learn and move into a better future with more relevant goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you ready to complete the past?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The process that I teach our clients is modeled after the U.S. Army\u2019s After Action Review. It encompasses four steps that help you to deal with your past experiences and move forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. State what you wanted to happen. <\/i><\/b>In order to effectively reflect on the past year, you must be honest with yourself about what your goals were when you started. If you have a written list of goals for 2020 pull them out to look at. If you didn\u2019t write a list at the beginning of this past year, that\u2019s ok. Take some time now to think back on what your plans were for 2020. Reflect on all areas of your life and write down what you had hoped would happen this past year. <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Acknowledge what actually happened. <\/i><\/b>Use the lists above and see where the gaps are between what you hoped would happen and what actually took place. Be sure to write down any unexpected wins in each area as well. Given all that happened in 2020 and the many ways in which we each had to quickly adapt to new and continually changing circumstances, there are bound to be several successes that you didn\u2019t expect. Even if you missed a goal that you had set, you need to acknowledge what you did accomplish. Take note of both the disappointments and the successes.<\/li>\n
  3. Learn from the experience. <\/i><\/b>What life lessons did your failures teach you? How can you apply these lessons to help keep yourself from making the same mistakes? When circumstances outside of your control forced you to quickly adapt, what did you learn about yourself? Write down these lessons so that you can remember them and use that list later as you set your goals for the next year.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Adjust your behavior. <\/i><\/b>Now is when you apply the lessons you have learned this past year and use them to modify your behavior. What performance or habit can you improve on based on this new knowledge? I want to remind you to encompass more than just one area of your life as you do this exercise. For example, how did your experiences at work affect your marriage? Your health? Your finances? How do you want to adapt next year in order to achieve your new goals?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This process can bring up several emotions as you work through each step.* Use it to find closure and peace for what happened this past year. And get ready to turn the page to a new chapter!<\/span><\/p>\n

    *If you are finding anything difficult to process or deal with, please seek out a professional. There is no shame in asking for help.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Each December as I get ready to set my goals for the upcoming new year, I do this pivotal step first. I take the time to think backward and complete the past. By doing so, I am able to close that chapter and fully move forward into the next year. But how do you effectively […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":49923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,16],"tags":[141,142,143,144],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future | Full Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I take the time to think backward and complete the past. By doing so, I am able to close that chapter and fully move forward into the next year with effective goals.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future | Full Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I take the time to think backward and complete the past. By doing so, I am able to close that chapter and fully move forward into the next year with effective goals.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Full Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/GettyImages-82255592.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1415\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Hyatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@michaelhyatt\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Hyatt\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/e326267e17b1b742f4062fcbd4fdfff7\"},\"headline\":\"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/\"},\"wordCount\":584,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"after action review\",\"Annual Review\",\"setting goals\",\"think backward\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Leadership\",\"Personal Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/\",\"name\":\"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future | Full Focus\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"I take the time to think backward and complete the past. By doing so, I am able to close that chapter and fully move forward into the next year with effective goals.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/\",\"name\":\"Full Focus\",\"description\":\"Win at Work and Succeed at Life\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Full Focus\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Full-Focus-Logo-Tan.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Full-Focus-Logo-Tan.svg\",\"width\":805,\"height\":178,\"caption\":\"Full Focus\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/fullfocusplanner\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/e326267e17b1b742f4062fcbd4fdfff7\",\"name\":\"Michael Hyatt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96062f5af6c86933efd0adddcb29204f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96062f5af6c86933efd0adddcb29204f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Michael Hyatt\"},\"description\":\"Michael Hyatt is the founder and chairman of Full Focus. He has scaled multiple companies over the years, including a $250M publishing company with 700+ employees and his own leadership development company that has grown over 60% year over year for the past 4 years. Under his leadership, Full Focus has been featured in the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America for three years in a row and in 2020 the company was named to Inc.\u2019s Best Work Places list. He is also the author of several New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling books, including Platform, Living Forward, Your Best Year Ever, Free to Focus and his newest book The Vision Driven Leader. He enjoys The Double Win with his wife of 40+ years, five daughters, and nine grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/michaelhyatt\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/author\/michaelhyatt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future | Full Focus","description":"I take the time to think backward and complete the past. By doing so, I am able to close that chapter and fully move forward into the next year with effective goals.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future | Full Focus","og_description":"I take the time to think backward and complete the past. By doing so, I am able to close that chapter and fully move forward into the next year with effective goals.","og_url":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/","og_site_name":"Full Focus","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/michaelhyatt","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\/","article_published_time":"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2120,"height":1415,"url":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/GettyImages-82255592.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael Hyatt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@michaelhyatt","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael Hyatt","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/e326267e17b1b742f4062fcbd4fdfff7"},"headline":"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future","datePublished":"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/"},"wordCount":584,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization"},"keywords":["after action review","Annual Review","setting goals","think backward"],"articleSection":["Leadership","Personal Development"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/","url":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/","name":"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future | Full Focus","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-21T07:29:34+00:00","description":"I take the time to think backward and complete the past. By doing so, I am able to close that chapter and fully move forward into the next year with effective goals.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocusplanner.com\/how-to-use-your-past-to-make-the-most-of-your-future\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Use Your Past to Make the Most of Your Future"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/","name":"Full Focus","description":"Win at Work and Succeed at Life","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#organization","name":"Full Focus","url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Full-Focus-Logo-Tan.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Full-Focus-Logo-Tan.svg","width":805,"height":178,"caption":"Full Focus"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/michaelhyatt","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/fullfocusplanner\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/e326267e17b1b742f4062fcbd4fdfff7","name":"Michael Hyatt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96062f5af6c86933efd0adddcb29204f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96062f5af6c86933efd0adddcb29204f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael Hyatt"},"description":"Michael Hyatt is the founder and chairman of Full Focus. He has scaled multiple companies over the years, including a $250M publishing company with 700+ employees and his own leadership development company that has grown over 60% year over year for the past 4 years. Under his leadership, Full Focus has been featured in the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America for three years in a row and in 2020 the company was named to Inc.\u2019s Best Work Places list. He is also the author of several New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling books, including Platform, Living Forward, Your Best Year Ever, Free to Focus and his newest book The Vision Driven Leader. He enjoys The Double Win with his wife of 40+ years, five daughters, and nine grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/fullfocus.co","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelhyatt\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/michaelhyatt"],"url":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/author\/michaelhyatt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49890"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}