“Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.”
Henry David Thoreau
I think the critical question here is, “why are you looking back?” Is it to learn and grow or wallow and lament? There is nothing you can do about the time passed; one may only live going forward. What are you going to do differently because you have looked back?
Look back to learn, live forward; life is too short to waste.
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”
Henry David Thoreau
What if we all expressed our gratitude and thanks 365 days per year? How different would the lives of those around you be? Daily thanksgiving could change the world…
“Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.”
Henry David Thoreau
In order to be “true to your work, your word, and your friend” one must first have a full and clear understanding of what is most important in your life. What are the “non-negotiables” that form the bedrock of what you believe and define your decisions and your behaviors?
Find work that aligns with those principles. Don’t compromise.
Let your words always match those principles, even when it is hard to say what needs to be said. Don’t compromise.
Choose your friends based on aligned principles and values. Don’t compromise.
Doing these things is what allows you to be true and live a life of authenticity. Don’t compromise, because if you do, you aren’t being true.
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
Henry David Thoreau
This is so easy to forget when we are busy and in the thick of getting things done. Every decision we make about where to spend our time is a decision on where to invest our life.
How do you decide on where to invest? More importantly, how do you decide when to stop investing? In other words, how do you decide that something is no longer worth investing your time and energy, i.e, your life? Sometimes if we have been doing something for a long time we don’t even realize that we aren’t getting value anymore.
Where would, or should, you invest your precious life?
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”
Henry David Thoreau
There are a finite number of hours in each our days. Are we spending those hours doing the work that needs be done or are we spending them focused on becoming “successful.” Success is a result, not a destination. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in life by focusing on the end result and not the hard work that was right in front of me. The good news is that you can fix that today, and everyday you go off course, by asking yourself this question:
“Am I working on what needs to be done, or am I working on what I want because of what I’ll get?” Be honest with yourself. If you are I have found that things will reframe themselves pretty quickly.