One of the things I never do is look back. It gets you nowhere. The perspective is often distorted, just like when you look into a mirror. Memories are never perfect and fade over time. I’m also not a believer that history is a predictor of the future. I’m more of a Blink kinda guy.

For example, when I’m interviewing a candidate I rarely, if ever, look over their resume. The resume only tells me what they think they did. I need to know if they can do what I need them to do. The same holds true for when I inherit a new team. There’s no value in looking at someone’s previous performance reviews. All they tell me is what someone else thought of them. What if that manager was just a bad manager and unable to get maximum potential from their staff?  Well, if that happened, the performance review is tainted.  Nope, when I inherit a team, everyone gets a fresh start.

Like so many things, I follow the same mentality in my personal life that I do in my professional life.  There’s just no value in looking back.  Well, there’s no value in looking back if you want to look forward.  If you’re focused on what can be, instead of what was, there’s no value in looking back.  Looking back is dangerous.  It holds you back and keeps you stuck in neutral.  Life is no fun when you’re in neutral.

Don’t you want to be going somewhere?  Well, if you do, my advice to you is stop looking back and start plotting your course forward.  Oh and grab yourself a navigator; going forward is a hell of a lot more fun when you’ve got someone to take the ride with you.