Top Ten Ways to Release the Past and Leap into an Exciting Future
Author: Deborah Ager

1. EXPECT great experiences to come your way and they will. A lot of times, we think we'd like to have to have something or "it would be nice if thus and so happened." Adopt the attitude that what you want is going to happen and enjoy the coincidences and people that come into your life to make it so.

2. CLEAR out the past. Throw out old receipts, papers, give away books you haven't looked at in the past year, donate clothes you haven't worn in ages. Simplify and clarify by clearing out your closets and desks. What do you notice after you do this?

3. EMBRACE your past failures as having been a time for learning something new. If you like exercises, here's one to try. Make two columns on a sheet of paper. Think of five times you failed and write them in the left column with plenty of space between each one. Now think of several lessons you learned from each of those failures. Write down the lessons in the right column next to the items listed in the left column. This exercise shifts your thinking about your supposed failures and turns them into learning experiences.

4. WRITE a timeline of your life using only facts and no judgments. In other words, you might write "I was born in 1950 and my name is Sam" as opposed to "I was born in 1950, and that makes me old. My name is Sam and I always loved my name." The second example contains negative and positive judgments of the past whereas the first example does not. By writing a biography of your life without assessments and judgments, you'll begin to release those conversations so you can live in the present.

You might wonder whether positive judgments are okay. After all, they are positive and we hear so much about the benefits of positive thinking. In this case, you want to release ALL assessments and judgments so you see the past as a series of actions that happened and not as actions that mean good or bad.

5. FOCUS your thoughts on what you desire and not on what you did or didn't do one or five or ten years ago. I had a client who felt she should have attended a more prestigious school, and this thought kept coming up and trapping her in the past. After several coaching sessions, she was able to accept her choices to attend the school she did and to create a future focus. We're human. All of us will have something we wish we'd done differently, yet we don't need to continue using our energy reliving that experience.

6. FILL IN this blank. If could do anything, I would ______ to jump start yourself into thinking forward.

7. CREATE declarations. Declarations create our future actions. The words we speak create our reality. When we say "I will become president of a company" or "I will write a book" we open up an exciting world of possibility. When we say "I can't play soccer well" or "I stink at cooking" we close down possibilities for ourselves. HINT: Write your declarations in the present tense using "I am" instead of "I will." When we write "I will" the declaration becomes something that remains in the future. When we write "I am" we become aligned with what we want to do.

8. WRITE IT DOWN. Write your declaration(s) each day as many times as you want. Writing is a powerful way to encourage thoughts to take root in our consciousness.

9. VISUALIZE your future. Picture what you want in your mind. If you want a new job, take a moment to visualize what the office looks like, who your clients are (give them names), envision your co-workers and your work space. See as much detail as you can in your new environment. Include colors, smells, sounds if you can and don't feel like you need to force it. As you engage in this vision of your new life, what shows up in your body?

10. PRACTICE forgiveness. Is there someone you would not want to see on the street? If so, this drains your energy. Is there someone who makes you mad due to something they did a long time ago? This is draining your energy. Do you find yourself in conversations with people about something that happened a long time ago? Guess what? That drains your energy. Those conversations keep your mind in the past. Imagine that difficult person walking up to you. As they walk up to you, send forgiveness their way. This won't be easy at first AND it gets easier with time. Keep sending them forgiveness and, yes, even love until they are no longer a trigger for you. Take a break if this becomes difficult for you. It's perfectly okay not to complete this exercise the first time. The idea here is to keep that person from triggering your negative and angry conversations. Forgive them and they'll no longer have the power over you.

11. SAY GOODBYE. Invent a way to say goodbye to the past. Perhaps you want to burn something in a fire or pack items away in a box. As you pack away each item, say "I am released from the past and am now looking towards ___________.







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Deborah Ager helps people embrace change in adventurous ways. Visit her web site for the free Creativity Tips ezine, free articles and free resources.

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