So I Hear Hindsight is 20/20...

1968

If you could go back and do over the past five years, what would you change? Hopefully nothing, right? Eh...probably not, though. In fact, we've all had those years we wish we could go back and fix.

This time, I'm not going to wait until the end before giving you your challenge; here it is now: write a journal entry beginning with the sentence, ”If I could go back...”   Write about your regrets, your failures, your shortcomings, your mistakes, your iniquities, write about anything you feel could have possibly gone better.  For me it's easier to write the entry and then make a list.  For example, my list would look something like this:

            -get better grades

            -take more challenging classes

            -read more books

            -date more girls

            -set a better example for my brother

            -be nicer to my friends

            -workout every day

            -lift weights regularly

            -run regularly

            -make fewer frivolous purchases

            -make more investments

            -commit to improvement and development

            -eat better (definitely would have gone vegetarian sooner)

            -be more spiritual

            -participate in more activities

            -do more

            -waste less time

And so forth.  Now that you've finished your list of everything you don't like about what you've done the past five years, go through and cross off every one you no longer have the opportunity to do.  Go ahead and exaggerate towards keeping things on the list; even change them slightly if you need to.  So now mine would be:

            -study diligently

            -study at all

            -read more books

            -date more girls

            -set a better example for my brother

            -be nicer to my friends

            -workout every day

            -run regularly

            -make fewer frivolous purchases

            -make more investments

            -eat better

            -be more spiritual

            -do more

            -waste less time

If you compare the two lists, you can see that mine stayed relatively the same.  That's probably because I've done this before and know precisely what my end results will look like.  I also went overboard on modifying items so they could stay on the list (I'm no longer in school, so I can't take challenging courses, but I can study).  So don't worry if your second list is significantly shorter, just as long as it's still a list.  In any case, the longer your list is now, the better.  If it's looking woefully short, go back and milk the first list for all it's worth.  Or find more things to regret :)  Even with a short list, this is a really good activity to help you improve.

Now that you have this list of things you don't like about your past, but haven't changed in your present, take that list and get specific with how you can do those things right now.  For example:

            -study my old math and writing textbooks twice a week and try to find more

            -read one book every week

            -ask take a girl on a date every week

            -invite my brother along with me to my events, go with him to his events, plan things to do together, talk about something every day, play games together

            -every day, go out of my way to do something thoughtful for a friend

            -start the day off with some twenty pushups, twenty situps, ten pullups and twenty dips

            -run one mile three times a week

            -at the end of the week, fine myself five dollars for everything I did not need to buy

            -invest the money I fine myself in a high-yield savings account, open a Roth IRA with ten percent of my income, find a higher paying job, study DIY, get a more efficient and reliable car

            -go vegan, organic and raw whenever possible and drink more water

            -make sure to pray at least four times a day, be more grateful, ask more blessings upon others, study the scriptures more and study the missionary lessons

            -maintain a list of things that need doing and take care of them in any downtime

            -study time management once a week

At this point, you can proudly say that you're learning from your past!  You can't know what the best decisions are in the future, or even in the present, but you probably can for the past.  Knowing now the best things to do in your past, you can take those things and apply them to your present.  Make them specific and you can now apply them to your future.

Then you have a detailed list of instructions telling you precisely what to do and how to do it!