Changing Vision in 2020
We often say “Hindsight is 2020” because we know that after the fact, everything makes more sense. When we see the bigger picture, when we have all of the facts, when we know the context for a situation, then we get a more clear vision of what was going on at the time. The problem is, it’s always after the fact… often times, we can’t do anything to change the situation and it’s too little too late. So how do we get in front of our 2020 vision and have foresight instead of hindsight?
Rely on your past while looking towards your future - while we’ve all had things we’ve looked back on to learn from, those past events can be our teachers for future events. Next time, when you were embarrassed about how you reacted to a situation, remember that for the next time it happens. Did you overreact? React too quickly or too strongly? Did you fail to look at all perspectives before responding? Use your past to teach you about your future so you can continue to grow.
Think ahead - be more intentional with your own day to day life. Work towards being proactive instead of reactive. How do you do this? Think about what areas of your life you are just coasting by and hoping for the best. These are often places where we feel stressed and tension in our lives. Look deeper into those places of stress and tension and see if there are ways you can be on the front side of what’s going on. Do you get frustrated every day because you don’t have enough time in the morning? Be on the front end by planning out your day and prepping where you can. Do you always feel drained after hanging out with a particular friend? Think ahead on when you’re hanging out and craft your times for when you have a full cup and limit the time so you don’t get drained.
Set Goals - we often succeed the most when we know where we want to be. Some things we regret in life are things that we could’ve prevented if we had set our own path instead of just taking what came our way. Write out some goals for yourself - even for just the week if you need to. Having a concrete, written list can help you stay focused on the future instead of just having to rely on looking backwards and wishing you had made different decisions to get you where you want to be.
When we take the time to follow these simple steps, it can set us on the right trajectory to stop looking behind us with regret and help us look forward with pure joy.
