The only way to get ahead in life is to know where you want to go and keep yourself moving in that direction. Blame, shame and regret are a waste of time. Never look back unless you plan on going that way.

In order to move forward, you have to be aware of where you are. Are you stuck in neutral or, even worse, backsliding in reverse into the past? If you are, put on your brakes, change gears and get back on track.

How can you tell if youre off track or going backwards? Its pretty easy. Just pay attention to your feeling feedback. Your emotions are your strongest indication of whether or not youre focused in the right direction. If youre feeling angry, upset, guilty, or whatever, about something that happened last year, last month, last week or ten minutes ago, then youre stuck in the past. And theres no way that you can get to where you want to go from the past. To move forward, you have to start from the here and now. You must be present to change gears.

So get in touch with your feelings, but dont stay stuck where you are. Let go of negative emotions. This includes any complaining, blaming and justifying. Let it all go. Realize that its over. Its gone. Its past. And the only reason its still hanging around is because youre still thinking about it.

Now, its time to quit idling around and move on. But, before you can move forward, you must get out of reverse (the past), focus on your goal and change gears. Look at what you can do to either transform the situation or, better yet, just let it go and transcend it. Thats often your best bet.

The Chinese symbol for crisis is the same as for opportunity. Isnt that interesting? So, in every breakdown, look for the breakthrough. When youre in the middle of a crisis, you can change gears by asking yourself, Whats the opportunity here? Thats thinking in forward gear!