The reason why many people don't achieve the types of success they deserve is simple - they dwell on their past. Whether or not this is realistic or even warranted is not the issue, however. What is the issue is that many people focus so intently on the past that they miss out on chances that would affect their future. If you feel that you are one of these people, maybe it's time you begin to let go.

What Letting Go Means

You've probably heard form others that you need to 'let go' of the past. But what exactly does this mean? Letting go can be defined and achieved in a number of ways:

Resolving past issues

Forgiving yourself

Forgiving others

For everyone, these tasks will be undertaken in different ways, based on our experiences. But the first step is to take a close look at how you talk and how you interact with yourself and your thoughts today.

What are Your Issues?

Before you can begin any exploration into self improvement, you need to consider what you aren't doing as well as you could be. This is not a judgment or a time to criticize yourself (you've probably already done enough of that to last a few lifetimes). What it is time to do is to examine the way you interact with your current life.

Are you negative in dealing with others? Do you find yourself expecting the worst to happen? If so, it's time to write down these behaviors as you notice them so that you can begin to figure out ways to change your actions and reactions. Figure out what isn't making you happy right now and then you can start to take steps to let go of your past.

Resolving Past Issues

For most of us, the past is something that we truly believe we can not change though it doesn't keep us from dwelling on things that have been done to us. What you need to do, however, is to begin looking at your past as something that can be changed in your mind. For example, if you are upset about a dream that you missed out on in the past, start looking at what you could have done differently. And then you can take those lessons into your next dream plans, making them a positive part of your new life.

Forgiving Others, Forgiving Yourself

You might be upset about things that have happened in the past, things that may truly have been someone else's fault. Or they may have been your fault. In either case, you need to begin to forgive yourself and others before you can move forward. Whether this is a spoken forgiveness or simply something you say to yourself, allow yourself to feel what your life would be like without these feelings of anger or resentment. Since you are the one who is feeling these feelings, you need to be the one that lets them go as well.

You are the one with the ability to move forward into the life you deserve and the life that you want. But instead of being held down by the chains and the weight of your past, you need to let go. When this weight is off your shoulders, you will find that you can run faster toward your goals than ever before.