John Maxwell is quoted with saying, “we over-exaggerate yesterday. We either think it was better or worse than it was – We over-estimate tomorrow; we think we can do more than we can and that’s why we put off everything till tomorrow.
Several years ago, I was interviewing a hotel broker in Florida to join our firm. I asked him to tell me about his career path. What I was looking for was a broker that would under exaggerate yesterday’s accomplishments and speak more about where he was at today and his views on tomorrow. What I got instead was a guy who took 20 minutes talking about how great of a salesman he used to be and all the fancy dinners, big named clients, parties, and private jets. You get the idea. Needless to say, he didn’t get the job.
All our past accompaniments are just that, in the past. What really matters is where your heart is today and the hope you see for your future. God doesn’t want us to spend a lot of time dwelling in the past. If you have a bad past, dwelling on doesn’t help your future. If you have an accomplished past, don’t let it define where you are going.
The bible says in the book of Philippians 3:13-14 – Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
You have heard me say this before, but what you don’t see at a funeral is the person’s sales awards, copy of their bank accounts and a picture of their boat. No, what you see are pictures of the person with his or her family. In my home office, hanging on the wall beside my desk is 56 framed announcements of the first hotels I ever sold. These mean nothing to anyone else except me and they are not there to impress anyone. They are only there for me because every time I look at them, I see God’s hand on that wall. He picked up a young father who was broke and struggling financially and showed him the way out.
So, don’t exaggerate your yesterday, don’t over-estimate your tomorrow but never underestimate what you can do today. KT