Time Travel 101: How to Go Back Change the Past, Present and Build a New Future
It may come as news to you time travel is possible, when it comes to our perceptions of the past. Your timeline, the way you record your life makes up your story. That story is far from objective mechanical truth and up for interpretation.
How do you define your life? As a collection of moments, are they mostly good, or mostly bad? How do you hold on to them? Your perception of your life and how you remember isn’t a fixed absolute. You can change your perception of your past and change your future. You may believe that the timeline of events and experiences you lived through occurred as you remember them. These memorable moments make up your story and affect your marching orders or how you approach your life each and every day. These experiences,
filled with intertwined emotions, thoughts and perceptions, define a part of your identity. The memory game however, is largely subjective game of connect the dots. The moments you remember, are connected to one another to make up your personal
timeline.
Your brain plays tricks on you in a few respects. Be sure to read 38 Memory Biases That Change The Story for in depth examples of just how your memories can’t be trusted as an objective account of your life.Negative events, for example those of pain, loss and suffering are often far easier to recall than those that are positive; those moments of peace, calm, joy and happiness. Your brain and memory are hard wired to help you learn from negative moments by recording every part and pixel. You remember where, when, who, why and what you stubbed your toe on for example. If you think about something like stubbing your toe, you can probably vividly picture a piece of furniture, a corner of a particular wall, or a chair in your home. You may even be able to recall multiple items, experiences and feelings where this happened. You can probably get there quickly in your head. If you try to recall your first kiss, or how you felt when you proposed to your wife and she said yes, or your husband proposed, how vivid is that memory? Which would you rather hold on to?
It’s easier to record and retain failures and pain. As life is full of challenges, you reinforce a habit of recording the negative and being attentive to it. You may enjoy the positive but often forget to write it down in the story of your life. When left on autopilot, your brain records trauma, failures and fears with perfect clarity and distinction. This default record of your life is likely more negative than it ought to be.
Luckily, your brain is also hard wired to enjoy moments and seek that which serves you. Part of enjoyment requires being, where you turn off your personal recorder, get out of your head and get into the moment. Often, during these positive moments we abandon
our story telling station and forget to make a dot on the timeline. Thus the specifics, the feelings, and thoughts experienced in a wonderful moment may eventually fade away if you don’t call attention to them later. A dance with someone wonderful, your first kiss, a ride at the county fair, the fleeting joys are easily forgotten without practice.
Changing The Past By Mapping The Positive Timeline:
Recalling That Which Served You and Remembering That Which Serves You
I’d bet dollars to donuts that your positive timeline has been largely undocumented and under reported. It’s time to travel back in time and call attention to your past victories, decompress them and bring them to the forefront of your mind.
1. Pick a day, a few hours, or just 20 minutes to look back on some photos of your life.
2. Pick a few, pick 50, pick 5 photos of small wins/epic victories from your past. They could be from any part of your life but for best results redefine your timeline for every 5-10 years of your life so far. Grab a few photos from
3. Write a few lines next to these images about those moment. How did you feel? What about that event was so important to you? How did it shape or mold who you are and what you do today? Why is that so great?
4. Connect your past with your positive attributes, resources and networks. Reflect on failures, upsets, and setbacks. Could you enjoy what you have today if it weren’t for them as well.
5. Have the future in mind. What stories would help support you on a path to improvement, success and victory?
6. Place those pictures of pivotal moments someplace where you can see them everyday. Understand and be grateful for the positive moments as well as the negative moments that ultimately lead to the positive outcomes of the present.
7. Realize that who you are now, as a person who lives in this moment, is a great and powerful moment. This moment has potential as do you. Use that potential to inspire and motivate yourself to reach for more and work towards a greater goal.
Re-journaling your past may change the way you feel about your present and thus affect your future. Revisiting the positive moments and remapping your timeline will change the story and may lead to new opportunities. As you replay and continue your personal story, re-evaluate what was important in your story to motivate and inspire the outcomes you desire in this moment and every moment in the future. Call attention to the parts of your past that serve who you want to be and who you are becoming. Do this exercise multiple times and you’ll realize that you have changed your perception of the past and came up with a great Heroik Origin Story serves you now in this moment as you reach for a better tomorrow.
