THE FUTURE DOESN'T THE PAST MAKE

You can only experience things for the first time once.

The reason for that obvious and gnarly statement is that you can never approach something "clean" the second time around. Through filters of the first time is the way you "reapproach" any person, place, event or experience. You apply to all areas of your life a future that's based on the past.

How do you know if future changes in your life will benefit you or cause you to slobber uncontrollably on your shirt? In truth you don't KNOW, but you have a definite belief based on your prior experiences.

Since viewing your future through the lens of the past is natural, it's worth taking a good look at what beliefs from your past life (lives?) you're allowing to create that future. Your past beliefs have gotten you to where you are. Your beliefs are and should be a major input into future decisions. However your beliefs can not, and should not, be firmly locked in concrete like Jimmy Hoffa.

Think of your beliefs as a wall of safety deposit boxes--all yours.

These boxes are different from the standard, bank-assigned, safe-deposit boxes. They do not contain your run-of-the-mill odds and ends like stock certificates, rare coins, wills, and one half million in unmarked bills. These boxes contain something important. They contain your beliefs.

Each box contains a past belief you hold concerning a specific issue. When your present life's experiences lead you to a new belief concerning that issue, and you go to store the new belief, you quickly realize the box is not big enough for two conflicting beliefs so you toss out your past belief, and deposit your current, new belief.

This concept of conflicting beliefs is worth expanding upon. You cannot hold two conflicting beliefs at the same moment. Your "boxes" are just not big enough. And since the belief you choose to deposit, old or new, drives your future behaviors, which ultimately drive your life's results, which belief you choose to stuff in your metaphorical safe-deposit box is a critical choice.

Lesson: The past got you to where you are now, but it doesn't have to take you to where you're going.