Psychologist advises how to stop dwelling on past mistakes
How to get rid of the burden of past mistakes (photo: Freepik)
Each of us has at some point regretted some action in the past, kicking ourselves over what could have been done differently. Some people quickly let go of such mistakes, while others tend to dwell on them and gnaw at themselves from within. Psychologist Olga Holentovska on Instagram advises how to shed the burden of past mistakes.
How to rid yourself of the burden of past mistakes
"Most of us have stories we'd like to rewrite: change our actions, draw different conclusions, ask for help, react differently, and so on. But it happened as it happened," says the psychologist.
She advises against beating yourself up over past mistakes, as they are life experiences.
"Don't beat yourself up and focus on what you can do for your tomorrow and today. The past is about experience, a personal lesson, not investments," explains Holentovska.
The psychologist explained how to stop beating yourself up over past mistakes.
You couldn't foresee all possible consequences
The brain reacts to information available at the time of decision-making, so objectively you had minimal opportunities to consider other alternatives or probable consequences that became apparent later.
Other courses of action were unavailable to you
Actions in the past were determined by the context of time, the period of your life, and external conditions. Thus, considering your life as a whole, it can be understood that other options did not seem appropriate at that moment or were unavailable to you.
Fear limited the options
All our actions, reactions, attitudes are determined according to the personal level of development, knowledge, beliefs, emotional state at a particular moment or period. Sometimes circumstances or internal factors (stress, fear, doubt, etc.) can limit the options. Your brain at that moment chose only what it could.
Earlier, we wrote about the psychologist identifying 10 threats to mental health that need to be monitored.
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