Sometimes it feels like you’re working hard to build the life you want but aren’t making progress. You may be pursuing a dream, trying to achieve a goal, or attempting to change an old habit. As you evaluate your progress, you compare where you are now with where you were in the past.

If you aren’t making the progress you hoped for, you may be spending too much time focused on the wrong thing. You want to achieve a future goal, but your attention is on the past.

Watch the second hand on a clock as it ticks off time. Each movement indicates the present moving into the past.

So if you are focused on where you are right now—in the present—you are actually focused on the past. Or if you are thinking about where you’ve been, you obviously are focused on the past.

Focusing on the past won’t help you create the future you’ve envisioned. Focus on the future instead.

Skate to Where the Puck is Going

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said: “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”

I’m not a hockey fan or expert. I do know that, in hockey, if you skate to where the puck was a second ago, you’ll never get your “stick on puck.” However, if you anticipate where it’s headed and skate to that future spot, your chances of connecting with the puck increase significantly.

If you apply that principle to achieving your goals or dreams, you will make greater progress. To do that, stop focusing on where you’ve been—or even where you are right now— and focus on where you want to go.

Predict where the puck is headed—the place on the ice it is sliding toward. Move in that direction.

I used to play soccer, and the same advice applied. I had to move toward where the ball would be—for instance, the open space where my teammate might place it —not where it was at any given time. That was the only way to get your foot on the ball.

If you don’t like the hockey (or soccer) analogy, think of it this way: Focus on your destination, and stop looking backward to see how far you’ve come.

To help you skate toward the future, not the past, use these four tips.

1. Stop Chasing Who You Used to Be

You may define yourself via past experiences. You remember what happened, decide what those experiences mean, and create stories about who you are based on those experiences. You choose to believe those past life events say something about you.

Perhaps you failed at something and concluded you’re a failure. Maybe someone rejected you, and you decided you weren’t worthy of love. Or you tried to achieve a goal and didn’t succeed, so you decided you weren’t capable.

These stories become your identity. You tell yourself:

I am a failure.

I am unworthy of love.

I am incapable.

You believe this is who you are.

These beliefs about yourself shape the goals you set, the risks you take, and the actions you’re willing to take to create the life you want.

In other words, your identity—or beliefs about yourself—keep you skating to where the puck has been. You say:

I always fail.

I never find true love.

I can’t do that.

But your past isn’t your future. Your previous experiences don’t have to determine what happens next. You can learn from the past without allowing it to dictate your choices today.

You can develop new beliefs, learn new skills, and respond to challenges differently. You can become someone who makes choices your former self might not have considered.

To do that, stop treating your history as a prediction of what’s possible. Stop letting the past dictate who you are—your identity—now.

You don’t have to be the person you were yesterday. To achieve your goals and realize your dreams, you have to choose to be someone who can have the life you want.

2. Create a Vision of Where You Want to Go

If you want to skate toward the puck, you must learn to anticipate where it’s going. The same is true when you want to create a different life.

You need a vision of where you want to go. Without a vision, you’re likely to react to current circumstances, repeat familiar behaviors, and make decisions based on your history.

Plus, a vision provides direction. It’s where the puck is headed. More specifically, it’s where you send the puck, like passing it to a teammate or shooting it toward the goal.

Ask yourself:

• Who do I want to become?
• What kind of life do I want to create?
• What do I want to contribute or accomplish?
• How do I want to feel?
• What matters most to me?

Don’t limit your answers to what seems possible based on your past—that’s skating toward where the puck has been. Imagine a future that excites you—one you want to skate toward. See the puck landing firmly in the goal.

Once you have a vision, imagine yourself living that future.

• Who are you being?
• How do you think?
• What habits do you have?
• How do you respond to challenges?
• What choices do you make?

A vision doesn’t guarantee everything happens as you imagine. Your vision acts as your True North. Like a compass, it helps you make choices aligned with what matters to you.

It’s the net you shoot the puck toward.

Let your vision guide your daily decisions. Invest your time, attention, and energy in ways that move you toward the future you desire.

3. Become the Person Who Can Create That Future

You don’t create a different life simply by wanting different circumstances. You create it by doing different things. However, to take different action, you must be the kind of person who can do that.

In other words, you create change by changing. You become someone who thinks, feels, and acts in ways that create change.

Who do you need to be now to create the future you envisioned?

Your past identity created your present circumstances. To create a different future—the one you envisioned, you need to be someone who has the habits and mindset of someone who has already created it.

You can’t wait to be the person who has the life you envisioned. You have to be that person now, because that person can create that life.

If you want to write a book, be someone who writes. If you want more peace, be someone who responds to difficult situations with equanimity. If you want better health, be someone who exercises regularly and eats a healthy diet.

You can’t wait until your circumstances change to become that person. You must embody that identity first. Then your circumstances will change.

Once you know who you need to be to create your desired future, identify that person’s habits and mindset. Then, at any given moment, ask yourself, “What would the person I want to be do in this situation?”

Then, do it. Be that person.

Each time you act in alignment with the person you need to be—and choose to be, you reinforce a new way of showing up. Also, you stop being the person from your past. You go beyond simply wishing for a different future and start participating in its creation.

4. Take Action in the Direction of Your Vision

A vision alone won’t create change. Nor will giving up your old stories or taking on a new identity.

You must take action.

You don’t need to know every step necessary to create your desired future. You need to decide to take the next one.

Then, be bold! Courageously take action. Move forward.

When obstacles arise, your old beliefs may resurface. You might be tempted to return to old, familiar patterns of behavior and thought. When that happens, remember the hockey metaphor: Don’t keep chasing where the puck has been. Look ahead. Skate toward where the puck is going.

Instead of asking, “Why does this always happen to me?”, which focuses on the past, ask, “How would the person I want and need to be to create my desired future respond?” That puts your focus on the future.

You aren’t chasing your past self; you are chasing your future self.

Instead of thinking, “I’ve never been able to do that,” which places your attention on the past, ask, “How could I make that possible?” That question moves your attention from who you used to be to who you have chosen to be so you can create your vision.

Each morning, ask yourself three questions:

• Who am I becoming? Reconnect with the person you want and need to be to make your vision a reality.
• What matters most today? Identify one meaningful action that moves you in the direction the puck is traveling.
• How do I want to show up? Choose the qualities you want to bring to your day—those that correspond with the new identity you have chosen.

Stop Bringing the Old You Into the Future

Stop bringing the old you into the future. That’s a broken strategy.

You can’t win the puck, shoot, and score by being who you’ve been—if the old you couldn’t do that. Be someone who can do those things—win the puck, shoot, and score.

The future you want isn’t created by endlessly revisiting where you’ve been, who you’ve been, or even how far you’ve come. You create it by choosing where you want to go and who you need to be to reach that destination. Then, you move in that direction.

Identify where your puck is going. Then, skate toward it.

Are you skating toward your past or your future most often? Tell me in a comment below. Please share this post with those who may benefit from reading it.