In the business world and in life, sometimes we can tend to look backward and ruminate a bit too much. This is true of people across industries and different professions. It is true in relationships too. Sometimes when we fail, instead of simply taking the lessons, learning from them, and moving on, we spend far too much time thinking of what we could have done differently. Everyone has had this happen at one point or another, but when we start ruminating, we are limiting our future potential. Instead of being focused on our personal growth and empowerment, we are handicapping ourselves by attempting an impossibility—changing the past. Whether you messed up a business deal, lost your job, or your relationship ended, one thing is the same: you can’t change what happened. All you can change is how you react to it. Here’s how you can learn to let go of your past failures and start being a better version of yourself.
Putting The Future First
This one sounds simple, but it can be quite hard. How do you put the future first, when you’ve just lost your job and are wondering what happened? The first thing you should know is that you can’t change anything that happened. It happened. It is done. Sure, it is important to learn from it—to take a few lessons with you into the future. But wondering if you could have pleased your boss with better work, if your co-workers liked you or not, those things aren’t going to help you. You need to take the core lessons, which you can honestly get within a few days of thinking over what happened. But after that, leave the past in the past, and start thinking about how you want to change your future.
Stress Can Cause Health Problems
Letting go of the past is important because stress can cause other health problems. Significant stress can cause hypertension and other cardiovascular problems, in addition to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Rumination is simply beating yourself up again and again over something that you can’t change and have no control over. Get rid of the stress by leaving the event in the past.
Friends, Family, and Hobbies Help Keep You At Ease
Right after you breakup with someone or lose your job, 
it can be tough to get back on your feet. But make sure that you don’t spend much time brooding in the house. Instead, get out there and have some fun with your friends and family. Take up a hobby, such as painting, hiking, or working out. Meditation, yoga, and mindfulness are great for this. Meditation helps to keep you in the state of now, to focus on the sensations around you and to lower your stress. Working on hobbies and hanging out with friends lets you know that there is more to the world, and that you can keep your mind at ease even when bad events happen sometimes.
