Have you ever said, “If only I knew then what I know now…”? I know I have.

If only I knew when I was 17 to 18 years old, what I know now, I would not have done what I did. But there’s nothing I can do now except to forgive myself and others, and to gain wisdom for the future.

I’m telling you this because I want you to understand that regrets do not have to bury you. You can bury yourself in regret and continue to make the same mistakes over and over again, or you can choose to learn from those mistakes.

If you look back to those times in your life – those mistakes or decisions you made that were not well thought-out – you can evaluate them and figure out why you made that decision. Did someone try to prepare you or even prevent you from making that mistake? If we are honest, we will often find that yes, there was someone who tried to warn us.

This is something we must learn from. When you have a tendency to dig your heels into the ground and thinking you know it all, or thinking you don’t need any help or advice from anyone, you are setting yourself up for regrets. A lot of people think this way, especially those between the ages of 18 and 25. Unfortunately, some even carry that mindset well into their adult lives.

I have one massive, enormous mistake I made, and looking back, there was somebody who tried really hard to keep me from making that mistake. She tried to show me how it would feel and what the future would look like if I made that decision. She tried to expose the manipulation that was happening in my life, but I refused to listen.

I cared so much more about pleasing the wrong people, and didn’t care enough about myself. I was such a hurt kid with very low self-esteem, and I felt like I deserved to be mistreated and hurt. So with all of my ridiculous issues of pain and rejection, I chose to reject the voices that were trying to help me and to accept the voices that were against me.

That led to make the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life, and I pay for that mistake still to this day. Even though my faith covers my mistakes and I’ve been forgiven, there is still pain that resurfaces because of this mistake, and I am still being healed from that pain.

So I just wanted to pass this along to you today. The more you and I can stay teachable and the more we gain wisdom from others who are successful, the better off we will be. When we make big decisions in our lives, we will see a fuller picture and we’ll have a much bigger perspective, so we will not set ourselves up for regret in the future.

Don’t be like those people who made a decision years ago, but they are still beating themselves up, living in total regret, afraid of making another mistake. That’s no way to live!

I would encourage you to look back throughout your life – NOT to condemn yourself, but to just evaluate – and think about who you listened to and why you chose to listen to that person. Really analyze who you were at that point in your life and learn from it so you do not continue the cycle of bad decisions leading you to a cycle of horrifying regrets.

You may have regrets about money, marriage, your kids, your job or your business. But you do not have to live in regret. You can use the current regrets in your life to give you wisdom to help you make decisions for a better future. This is your chance to design your life in a way that is fulfilling and based on peace and harmony. This is your chance to create the life you want to live, both personally and professionally.

I would highly recommend you have a heart-to-heart with your family today. This topic is something that can make or break your future success, as well as the success of your family, your friends and your business team. So take a few minutes today to share this with the people you care about. Either print this out and pass it around, or simply post this link on Facebook and Twitter. And, don’t forget to let me know below what thing from your past is holding you prisoner!

In great faith,

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