Do you find yourself living in the past and trying to understand why you did something, rather than learning from what took place? One thing is clear in regard to most highly successful people: They failed once, twice, or even many times three before finally hitting upon a plan that worked. What highly successful people do is learn from their past mistakes and then do things differently the next time around. We discuss 6 steps to help you learn from the past and move forward.

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• Best not to begin by asking “Why”, e.g. “Why didn’t that work?” The reason being is that your answers will usually be based on various suppositions that are not all that correct or accurate.
  
• We will do well to stay away form asking ourselves “Did I do it right or did I do it wrong?” On of the main reason for this is that the potential answers wind up being too “black or white” with very little in the way of nuance.
  
• Avoid asking yourself questions from a negative viewpoint. For example: “Why was I so unaware about what was actually taking place?”
  

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2. Make a simple statement naming the situation that did not go as planned and what you are wanting to learn.
   
3. Ask yourself: “Did I make an overall wise decision when initially engaging in my situation?”
   
4. Ask yourself: “Was my choice for this situation based on my insecurities and/or needs rather than choosing from a place of strength?”
   
5. Ask yourself: “How could I have better managed my primary relationship in the situation I was involved in?”
   
6. Ask yourself: “Did I have the skills and experience to properly support what I was attempting to accomplish?”
   
7. Consider what you will want to do differently and the same in the future. In other words, cycle through the above questions, digest what happened, and then state what you would do differently in the future and also what you would do the same in the future.