Your future is based on a series of cumulative steps, each built upon the previous one, always moving forward - but constantly looking back to remind you that you don't want to go where you were, but only to where you could be.
That's what one of my favorite words, reinvention is all about. It's a wonderful word since it implies a rebirth, a renaissance, and a rebuilding. But think about this - it's often the case that you don't get the chance for reinvention if you don't focus on the crucial first step to achieving it - and that's recovery. You can't fly down the reinvention runway if you don't manage to get to the starting point - if you crash and burn and can't recover, you'll never have a chance to get to the reinvention process.
Looking back can be extremely difficult to do, but it helps your reinvention process because it reminds you of where you don't want to go. It's a verb - recovery from your worst excesses, most awful routines, and most challenging circumstances!
The thing about looking back is that it reminds you of the reality of where you once were. As I wrote on this day a number of years ago:
Things get broken, business models get broken, people get broken, strategies get broken, and relationships get broken. When this happens, many people become lost and don’t know what to do.
I’ve built a life on stage advising companies how to deal with busted business models and broken strategies. I give people advice on what to do when the strategies they thought were perfect for the future no longer make sense in the context of accelerating change.
In my spare time, I’ve worked hard to ensure that I’m fixing up my own things at a personal level. It’s a complex world, and complex things can happen, even to those with the best intentions.
The challenge in both cases is knowing where to start - often, the first step is the most difficult, terrifying, challenging and complex part of the journey.
But once you take that first step, the rest of the pieces fall into place, and over time, magic happens!
So start your day today with one simple thought: maybe today is a good starting point to start to fix what might be broken!
Everyone has those moments when all seems lost; when being actively discouraged seems to rule each and every waking moment. And then, in a moment of clarity, you might discover the moment where you figure out how to live your life one day at a time.
It was something it was too blind to see,
I got help from something greater than me
And today I learned to live my life one day at a time
Thanks, Joe! That's some clarity right there!