Many personal development gurus tell us to forget the past because it’s already happened, and there’s no point living it over and over again. I even mentioned in an earlier blog something called the dark side of imagination. However, the other day I was thinking about the past and realized not thinking about the past at all is impossible. If it was possible, then we would have no long term memory. We also wouldn’t be able to remember the great things that have happened in our lives. After that I realized that it is possible to think about the past in a way that can actually be very productive.
While I don’t advocate living in or dwelling on the past, I think we can use the past in a way that benefits us. If you are going to think about the past, focus on all the great things that have happened in your past. As kids it wasn’t uncommon to have a room full of ribbons, certificates, medals, trophies and other things detailing our successes. Perhaps the reason parents put up these shrines to their kids is to help the kids develop a healthy self image. Yet, as adults, if we go into a bedroom, you might see a college or graduate degree. That’s about all you’d see. While putting up a shrine of your past accomplishments will probably seem silly, what I’m talking about is more of an an accomplishment board. If you have a vision board this is something you could use in parallel with your vision board. So, how do you go about building an accomplishment board?
1. Decide on 50 things that you have accomplished that you are really proud of in your life
2. Write them all down on a piece of paper
3. If you want you can use pictures. Personally I wouldn’t want to damage old pictures.
4. Take your 50 accomplishments and write them down on 3×5 index cards.
5. Get a poster board or cork board and put up those accomplishments on the board.
6. Hang it on your wall
Now, anytime you decided to take a walk down memory lane you can start with your accomplishment board and it’s likely you’ll feel much better about dwelling on the past.
Tags: visualization, vision boards, goals, accomplishment
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the idea of an accomplishment board! I’ve never considered this before but I think it’s a great way to make good use of the past, rather than dwelling on it. Great idea, Srinivas!
Yes, we can be told that the past is not important, but knowing that as a concept doesn’t really help us much. When we can release emotions and fears, we begin to realize that a lot of the emotions are actually from the past. As we continue to release, the past recedes and takes on a surreal quality…it’s like the things that happened an hour ago might as well have happened in 2nd grade.
An accomplishment board is a great idea!
Thanks, k
Dani: Up until I came up with this idea I’ve been a victim of my past, and I think this kind of has allowed me to let go of it.
Kaushik: Interesting idea that you could compare an hour ago to 2nd grade. But that’s absolutely true. I think there’s not much difference because they are both things that are now in our memory.
Hi Srinivas – This is an interesting idea. You are right that we don’t want to live in the past, but remember all that we have achieved helps us to remember that no matter what problems enter our life – we can get through them! Also, it helps us to remember our strengths and our self worth. Nice idea.