Perhaps one of the biggest stumbling blocks in becoming successful is past regrets. Too many times we become so obsessed with all of the times in the past when we were unable to achieve our goals that we believe we are doomed to fail at anything we do.
What actually happens is that we "program" ourselves to fail. We are still living in the past, unable to break away from the "failure chain" that links us to our past selves. So we doom ourselves to repeating the same old mistakes over and over again.
In order to do things differently, we must learn to be different. Our thoughts, actions and attitudes must all be different than they were in the past. And one big way to be different is in the way we percieve our mistakes.
There is no room in the life of a successful person for regret. Regret is a waste. It does nothing to enhance who you are, and, in reality, all it does is feed on you. Regret will bleed you dry emotionally, physically and spiritually.
If you want to be free to achieve your dreams and goals and live your life to it's fullest potential, you must not allow regret to keep you chained to the past in a prison of "should of's" and "could of's".
One of the best ways to loosen the power that regret has on you is to accept your past mistakes. Allow yourself to be human and realize that, as a human, you will make mistakes, and that's okay, because that is how you learn.
But now, let's take it one step further. Not only should you accept your past mistakes - you should embrace them. That's right, be grateful that you are aware of your mistakes.
Why in the world should you do that? Because if you are aware that you have made a mistake, then you are also aware that you need to do something different next time around to be successful.
To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So you can look at what you did in the past to achieve the wrong results - and use that as your blueprint for what you need to do to achieve the right results.
So when those past mistakes come to mind, don't get stuck in regret and allow yourself to follow the same path that caused the mistakes in the first place. Instead, embrace those mistakes and use them as a valuable learning tool - the roadmap to success that they actually are.