Tony Williamson

"Yesterday is a cancelled cheque; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely."

- Kay Lyons

You may well be one of millions of persons who are not fulfilling their true potential in life because they are weighed down mentally, crippled by the memory of their past. Adversities of people's past lives include a failed marriage, a history of substance abuse, criminal activity, a failed business venture or bankruptcy, failures in academic pursuits, children that have not turned out well and a host of other mistakes, failure and bad experiences. How can one move on and achieve success with a past that seems to cloud one's vision and sap one's creative energy?

Everyone in life has a past, but most of us will have a future. A critical success factor in life is the mental acknowledgement that the past is passed, gone forever, irretrievably lost. You cannot turn back the hands of the clock. You cannot go back into the past and undo what has already been done. Dwelling on the past is a futile exercise and a waste of precious mental energy. You need to accept this fact and think about your present circumstances and your future. In going forward, here are some steps to take for a brighter tomorrow:

1 Analyse, but don't dwell on, your past failures and identify the lessons that you need to learn from these experiences. Failure and adversity are the greatest university of life. It has been said that anyone who does not learn from his past mistakes is condemned to repeat them. Failure is not the end of the story. It is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

2 Forgive yourself. I have just finished a series on forgiveness, but one thing that was not highlighted is the absolute necessity to forgive yourself. Sometimes it is easier to forgive others than to forgive ourselves, but the same capacity to forgive others must allow us to forgive ourselves and to put the past behind us. A wise person said, "Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." And remember, forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion.

3Change your behaviour. Albert Einstein said two important things. He said, "If you continue to do the same things and expect different results, you are insane." He also said, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them." Ultimately what is really important is not what you think or what you say, it's what you do. You can change the way you speak to people - use kinder words, be less critical. Study more diligently, spend money more thoughtfully and save more consistently. If gambling wasted your money, quit gambling. If alcohol is restricting your potential, quit drinking. Seek help if you need to, but make the change.

4 Set a goal. Goal-setting can change your life and erase past failure by giving you astonishing success. But goal-setting is different from wishful thinking. It has to be specific, written down, carry time horizons and regularly evaluated. If, for example, you would like to be financially independent or wealthy in five years, it is a waste of time merely to say, "I want to be rich." Instead, write down the exact amount of money you intend to have by 4:00 p.m. Tuesday December 31, 2013. Then write down the goods and services you intend to exchange for this money, for there is no free lunch. Find out the people who can help you, the obstacles you will have to hurdle and the hours you will have to spend to accumulate this sum of money.

When you have surplus money, decide where you can invest it so that when you are not working it will be working for you. If your investments do not keep up with inflation, you are on a financial treadmill. Wealthy people find ways to invest their money so that their returns exceed inflation.

Finally, rule out failure. Regardless of your past, get past it by a powerful mental decision that you should affirm aloud daily, "I will not fail but succeed at this venture." Specify the venture, believe you will achieve it and act as if it were a done deal.