Have you ever seen a dog trying to jump up to meet you, but he (or she) is tied to a lease. They can’t reach you.  That is what it is like for those who are tied to their past and are trying to reach success.

Of course. I know you are the one who has learned to turn their past into a trampoline right? How do I know that?

• You were born a champion.
• You show that you are interested in developing yourself as a champion because you are reading this.

How to detect the anchor syndrome
You can strike up a conversation with a person and will not be too long before they mention something negative from their past. Usually the comment comes along with a very negative tone. You can sense the anger, resentment or regret.

The closer you get to this person, the more poison that shows up from their past. They are angry and resentful. They cannot forgive and may live in regret. There often also a sense of complacency. They also tend to be resigned to their present life style. They live under the disillusion that they cannot change.

This disillusion is deception or laziness (or both).

Deception: they have not discovered or learned that they CAN change.
Laziness: they know they COULD change, but they really can’t be bothered.

These are the people you don’t want to get too close to. As a champion, your mission is to surround yourself with champions who are on the mission of developing their champion spirit.

You are highly influenced by the people that surround you. This is why it is SO important to choose your friends well. You may need to say goodbye to some old friends if they insist on strengthening your anchor to your past.

A test: Start taking note of YOUR conversations and thoughts (those internal conversations).

Are they positive? – or do you detect that you COULD be tied to your past in some areas?

If you still detect some negative areas in yourself, read on to learn how to turn your past into a trampoline.

Create a Trampoline
Click here to read how to turn your past into a trampoline to success.

So then how can you turn your past into a trampoline that will lead you to success?

1. Choose to forgive
I am sure you have heard this many times. But it is VERY necessary for YOUR mental health and physical health as well as for your future success, that you forgive everyone from your past.

They may have disillusioned you, disappointed you or downright betrayed you. It really does not matter. You need to forgive them.

Do they deserve your forgiveness? Probably not. But we are not really talking about them. We are talking about YOU and YOUR health and prosperity.

Anger and resentment will eat away at YOUR health (not theirs). So for your sake, choose to forgive.

Now take note:

• Forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion. (You don’t need to feel like forgiving).
• Choosing to forgive does NOT mean you are obliged to trust again.
• Trust is a completely different area. Trust is EARNED.

2. Decide to release your past.
When you forgive you give up the right to rehearse those mental dramas of what you would like to do to that person if it were legal and ethical. You actually release a very heavy load from your life.

Justice is no longer your problem. (Believe me, the Creator of this universe does not need your help to bring justice. You are actually in His way when you insist on taking revenge yourself, even if it is only in your mind).

So now it is time to release the people involved and the situation itself completely.

You cannot change the past. However you CAN find some benefits within this situation that will help you in your future, especially now that you are not emotionally involved.

3. Determine to learn from your past.
You have forgiven the people who helped create negative influences in your life in the past. You have released the situation which means you are choosing to no longer allow your mind to dwell on those things.

The decision to forgive will have released much, if not all of your emotional ties to the situation. You also released the situation itself. This means no more blame and revenge dramas in your mind.

Note: You may also need to forgive and release yourself. You cannot move on towards success if you are still stuck in the bog of self blame.

Now get out your journal (or a sheet of clean paper) and a pen. Quickly look back to this situation in your mind. Your mind should be clear of emotion when you think about it now, so you are free to learn.

• Write down everything you learned from this situation.
• What would you do today if the same thing happened?
• How would you react?
• What decisions would you make?

You are starting to build your trampoline as you turn your past situations into learning experiences.

You are learning to conquer the negative and pursue the positive. This will lead you to success!

Photo: From szlea’s photostream on Flickr
\

Is your past still a part of your present?

You cannot change your past. However you CAN change your present and your future.

Some of your memories may not be easy ones.

We have all gone through difficult circumstances.

You may have experienced:

• a disillusionment, a disappointment or even a betrayal
• an accident, sickness or even tragedy
• a failure in a business, in a relationship or in some other area of your life

How Your Past Affects Your Present
Everything that you go through in life is processed by your mind. You come to a conclusion based on what you ALLOW your mind to decide.

• Your decision may be influenced by the emotions you experience at the time of the incident. These conclusions may well be negative or impulsive depending on the emotions you experience. The judgment you make will be an emotional one.
• Your decision may be influenced by logic.
• Your decision may be influenced by your moral and faith standards (this is the best decision).

This conclusion is stored into your subconscious mind to become a part of your belief system. Your belief system is the filter that influences the processing of all future information.

Negative Decisions:
Now, let’s suppose that you made a negative judgment based on a past experience. This probably created a negative filter in your mind.

You may have decided you will never trust again (rather a drastic conclusion, but many of us go through this one). This is your way of resolving never to allow yourself to be hurt again. This decision is going to drastically affect your present and future relationships.

Positive Decisions:
If your belief system was faith based and positive at the time of the negative experience you may well have been able to decide to forgive, release the people involved and move on.

The resulting information that was sent to your subconscious mind or belief system will free you to allow future relationships to be positive ones.

If you find yourself being held back by your past, go back to that memory and release it. Forgive the people involved. Set yourself free to live in the present as you plan and work towards a glorious future.

I am certain that you have a great future ahead because:

There are many areas of your past that can affect your present and future according to the decisions you have made. I will explore more of these in future writings, but I need your help.

I am sure you have a LOT to share. There is so much we can learn from each other. Please share your experiences, comments and questions below.