Some people go through life as if they have a big anchor behind them, weighing them down. If they could release it, they would be able to move faster and succeed more easily. Perhaps that’s you — holding on to past hurts, past incompletes, past anger or fear. Yet releasing these anchors can often be the final step you need to complete your past and embrace the future.
Forgive and bring yourself back to the present
In the world of business, in families, and in personal relationships, we, too, need to come from a place of love and forgiveness — to let go so that we can move on. You need to forgive a business partner who lied to you and hurt you financially. You need to forgive a coworker who stole credit for your work or gossiped about you behind your back. You need to forgive an ex-spouse who cheated on you, then got nasty during the divorce. You needn’t condone their actions or ever trust them again. But you do need to learn whatever lessons there are, forgive, and move on.
When you do forgive, it puts you back in the present — where good things can happen to you and where you can take action to create future gains for yourself, your team, your company, and your family. Staying mired in the past uses valuable energy and robs you of the power you need to forge ahead in the creation of what you want.
Steps to forgiving
The following steps are all integral to forgiving:
- Acknowledge your anger and resentment.
- Acknowledge the hurt and pain it created.
- Acknowledge the fears and self-doubts that it created.
- Own any part you may have played in letting it occur or letting it continue.
- Acknowledge what you were wanting that you didn’t get, and then put yourself in the other person’s shoes and attempt to understand where he or she was coming from at that time, and what needs the person was trying to meet — however inelegantly — by his or her behavior.
- Let go and forgive the person.
* Source: The Success Principles by Jack Canfield