Yesterday Ended Last Night
Aug 03, 2020
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present."
--Bill Keane
I was looking through some notes from a prior Maxwell International Certification Event in Orlando. John Maxwell did a teaching from "Today Matters," a book that he wrote some time ago. I thought I would share some of my notes from this teaching with you.
So many of us over-exaggerate yesterday, overestimate tomorrow and underestimate today. Wow. Think on that statement for awhile. We think too much about what we could have or should have done. We worry too much about what might happen, or not, tomorrow. AND statistically, 99% of the stuff that we worry about never comes to pass. This kind of thinking can put a damper on our today.
Here's what John knows about yesterday:
1. Yesterday influences today. We are today where our thoughts have brought us. Our yesterday's thoughts caused our actions today. How many times has the same trigger caused us to re-act in the same way we've always reacted? If we always do what we've always done, we're always going to get what we've always gotten.
2. We can learn from yesterday. Successful people learn from yesterday. Unsuccessful people yearn for yesterday. Negative things from yesterday can be our best teachers. Don't count your losses, count your lessons. We can become aware of what triggers our re-actions and learn to respond differently.
3. Yesterday ended last night. We can't do anything different about what we did yesterday, so we need to let it go. So many people have row-boat mentality--they move forward while looking backward. Successful people forget about yesterday and keep their eye on the finish line.
Don't lose today by replaying yesterday or worrying about tomorrow. Hopefully, we have learned from yesterday and can move forward. It's so awesome that we can start over today if we don't like our yesterday. Every day is a do-over. We can chalk our yesterday up to experience--or lack thereof--and enjoy today! Today, we can set up the tomorrow that we want.
This teaching gave me some thoughts to ponder. I don't need to be the person that I was yesterday. I don't need to re-act in those ways that don't serve me. And THAT makes it so I can enjoy today and have a better tomorrow. What about your yesterday can you let go of so you can enjoy today and set up a better tomorrow?
Making today matter,
Jan
Jan McDonald
The John Maxwell Team
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