“Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.” – Hermann Hesse

It’s true that your past contributes to who you are today – what you think, what you say, and what you feel. However, dwelling on your past can hinder the happiness and personal growth that are waiting for you right now.

More important, letting go of the past gives you a clearer perspective; a freer perspective to be in the present moment. Here are seven tips to help you let go of yesterday and live for today.

Tip One: Use the frustration. No one likes to be stuck. But if you focus on the feeling of being stuck, the frustration can give you energy. Take in how frustrated you are with where you are, you’ll be more likely to use it to make a fresh start, and truly put it behind you.

Tip Two: Give up the victimhood. Everyone is a victim at some point in their life, and there is no doubt that terrible things may have happened to you that were unfair. But seeing yourself as a victim is being focused on the past. Instead, look forward to who you can be today, master of your own destiny.

Tip Three: Expand Your Self Perception. Many times, the problem with being fixated on yesterday is that you see yourself a certain way, as being a certain way. Sometimes, you can get beyond this problem simply by realizing that some of the ways that you view yourself may be incorrect. Try to see yourself with fresh eyes and new opportunities will arise.

Tip Four: Give yourself more credit. Fixation on the mistakes of the past often occur because you are being too hard on yourself. Mistakes happen. The reason is often a small thing, and not related to your value as a person. The problem is that we tend to connect our elf worth to our mistakes, when instead we should focus on our accomplishments.

Tip Five: View your mistakes as gifts. Your mistakes don’t have some deep meaning about whether you matter. They are gifts that show you the way forward.

Tip Six: Making a list of goals can help you shift your focus towards the future. Your life should be about tomorrow and not the day before. You can help yourself move in a new direction by getting a sense of what you want out of life.

Tip Seven: Pay attention to how you feel. If you can figure out what is making all the negative emotions happen, you can often undo them and focus on other things.

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