Monday, January 16, 2012
1:41 PM
My father and Team National founder, Dick Loehr, focused on tomorrow not on yesterday. Prior to Team National, my dad was the captain of the Ford drag racing team, which broke several racing records and he owned multiple businesses. Yet, he did not focus on his past accomplishments or his failures. Yes, we all have failures or life lessons as I like to think of them! He focused on today and tomorrow. Team National is built on the foundation of helping you not only focus on tomorrow, but to make it great.
As I look at all the great lessons I have learned from my dad, his positive and forward-thinking attitude is definitely on the list! It sounds easy to focus forward, it is even catchy. Yet, my experience has taught me that some moments, it's hard to look forward. It's comfortable to talk about what you did yesterday. It's easy to talk about people and accomplishments in the past. Successful people look forward not backward. Why? You cannot change yesterday, but you can change today and tomorrow.
Yesterday can absolutely teach you something, but do not spend too much time looking back. Your energy and time should be focused on the present and the future.
Mike Murdock says "Stop taking journeys into yesterday."
I find when I am focusing on the past that the best way to focus forward is to throw myself and my mind into something in the future. It might be planning a future TN event, a future vacation, a future benefit, a future project, or a future dream. When I do that, it forces my mind to stop thinking about the past and to move forward. I focus on the here and now daily. It is how I keep my mind positive, fresh and grateful. The moments I allow my past to fill my mind, I remind myself that today matters. Today I can make a difference, yesterday is history. My dad rarely talked about his past, if he did it is because others asked him about it.
He often said "your front windshield is bigger than your rear view mirror so that you can focus on where you are going, not where you have been."
He lived his life that way. I, too, live my life that way and lead Team National planning and looking to the future. Team National has a terrific future.
Focus forward!
Angela