The musician, Sting, recently gave a TED talk where he spoke about focusing on the past as inspiration for the future. He had writer’s block for several years. He chose to return home and focus on the shipyard near where he grew up and other parts of his past in order to ground him.
It inspired him to go deep inside and he began writing again at new levels.
Often we either block out the past or use it to blame current circumstances, creating a negative impact that keeps us stuck. We do this both in our personal lives and with teams and ourselves at work.
If we look at the past not as a place to live, but as a way to appreciate, learn and grow, it can be valuable. We can look deep and take away lessons and experiences to build on that inspire us to develop new outcomes.
For example, when faced with challenges we can draw strength from the past. Remembering times when we have overcome obstacles or picked ourselves up after failures can be inspiring.
The past can be a powerful resource if we are willing to explore, be open and move forward. It can become the basis for future vision. We can then move to places we have yet to discover.