4 Ways to Make the Past a Platform – Not an Anchor
Memory predicts the future.
You are becoming, to some degree, the person you remember. Character and potential are formed, in large part, through rehearsed memories.
Successful leaders make the past a platform, not an anchor.
4 ways to make the past a platform:
#1. Remind people who they are. They remember what they did.
- Tell me of a time when you succeeded. Who were you then?
- What does being disappointed with failure say about you?
- What qualities and behaviors helped you succeed in the past?
Turn the attention of discouraged people to who they are, not what happened.
#2. Remind people of past successes. They remember failures.
Replayed memories establish future direction.
Leaders instill hope by using the past to energize future endeavors. An over-focus on past failure and disappointment is self-limiting.
#3. Invite people to recall the noble behaviors of admired others.
You become like the people you remember.
Memories of my dad’s grit fuel my resilience. He was the toughest hardest working man I have ever met. He never quit.
Remembering an admired gritty person helps develop endurance.
#4. Explore, don’t make light of negative memories.
Help others maximize negative memories. Don’t say, “It’s not that bad,” when someone thinks it sucks.
- What has this experience taught you?
- How are you better?
- How is this impacting your plans?
- How does this impact self-perception?
Heeding warnings from the past:
- Anticipate a disappointing future, if you repeat behaviors that didn’t work.
- What caused others to fail? How might you avoid it?
- What will you do about nagging negative patterns?
Planning and the past:
Planning is preparing for the future with the past in mind.
- How might you reproduce success?
- How might you prevent failure?
- What went right? How might you repeat it.
- How might you intervene to prevent negative patterns?
Go beyond memory when planning. Include aspiration.
How might memories hold people back?
How might leaders make the past a platform, not an anchor?
Dwelling on the past without taking the learning and growing from it leads to a person being resentful and stuck .It takes a LOT more effort to keep that ‘anchor’ than to drop it, yet I find so many would rather ‘keep the anchor ‘ rather than learn from it …..and drop it.Then you will sail on with ‘more wind in your sails.’ I’d rather be with people who would have learned and dropped the anchor.
Thanks Kari. Great observation. It sure does take more energy to carry an anchor than to learn from it. It’s funny, but sometimes we don’t even know why we are carrying the weight in the first place.
Helping people see their anchors is a great leadership opportunity.
Dan, excellent as always.
How might memories hold people back?
Bad memories tend to sour one’s outlook, if you hold them near to you! Best to have learned from the experience and build a new memory, hopefully in a positive format.
Past memories or lessons are our building stones for the future, seek what works and discard the rest.
How might leaders make the past a platform, not an anchor?
Understand times change, people change and so does doing business change, be prepared to cut the anchor and reduce the weight.
Thanks Tim. You got me thinking about how we poison our own attitude and outlook when we allow negative memories to suck us under, rather than learn and grow through them.
No one would intentionally drink polluted water, but what about memories that pollute our outlook?
Dan,
Exactly! Cheers
How and why do people get ‘anchored’ in the past? I see this time and time again. Often the comment is,”I just can’t get past what happened. I’m stuck.”
I offer to my clients to see it (acknowledge) then craft a plan to go THROUGH it. Yes it (the circumstance) happened. It is a part of you, but it does not have to DEFINE you. You do not have to stay there.USE that situation as a DEFINING MOMENT, a PLATFORM to define your FUTURE. Stuff happens to everyone, right? Good and bad. The key is to not stay there. Learn from it and keep going!
Thanks Cynthia. Love your use of language. Don’t let being stuck define you. Think of it as a defining moment.
You remind me that accepting things as they are is the first step forward.
This is a powerful concept. I really like the way you framed this, and I will be sharing it.
You can’t safely drive forward while focusing on the rear-view mirror.
Thanks Bob. It’s a pleasure to be of service.