I heard someone say this on a podcast and it stuck with me. It is a way to reframe the narrative of change as we enter the new year or at any time. The point is to spend more time looking forward than obsessing on the past.

Did you have a good 2021 professionally? If so, will you keep doing what you did or seek to improve on your success? If not, will you spend time thinking of what could or should have been, or spend more time looking to make 2022 a better year. I’m talking about a mindset, which is in your power and under your control.

This doesn’t mean assessing past success or failure is a waste of time or not helpful. Of course, it is. You can learn from either. But once you make assessments, look at how it relates to what you do next instead of dwelling on past achievements or lack thereof. Looking forward keeps your eyes on the path you are taking.

Life is a continuing road and narrative. You get to decide whether you’re the narrator or someone else is. If you don’t plan the road ahead of you the future will happen anyway, and it likely will be driven and narrated by others instead of you.

Take control of what is your story. Learn from your successes and failures or observing those of others around you, but know you’re not held hostage by what has happened in the past. You have the choice to make the new year or any time good. It means you have to take action, look forward, and act to make good things happen.