Understanding your past can help you take steps forward.
Many of us have failed to recognize how events from our past have shaped us.
When developing a life plan, taking the time to understand your past can help you take steps forward.
Developing a personal timeline can help you take steps to better engage, enter and experience the life you were created for.
What is a personal timeline:
A personal timeline is created when you put together a chronological order of events, people, and experiences in your life down on paper. The purpose is to reflect back upon your life in order to understand what has shaped you and to help you take stronger steps forward.
Four benefits to developing a personal timeline:
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To further understand yourself.
Many of us really fail to take self-reflection seriously enough to understand our desires and wants and self.
Thomas à Kempis argued that “a humble self-knowledge is a surer way to God than a search after deep learning,”
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Understand the influence of your life.
We are all being influenced in life one way or another. While some influence is growth building, others can be destructive. Some of us will have too many voices in our life, and others not enough. A personal timeline can help us better understand those influences, and what ones are building or destructive.
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God markers
Many times in scripture there is a call to remember what God has done. Many people I know do not pause long enough to mark the God moments in their life. Looking back can help us better understand where we are and what God has done and where we need to go.
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Help make better choices for your future.
My personal experience is that more often than not, as people reflect upon their life, it allows them to start to make better choices for and in their future. You begin to see how you react to things and perhaps even your thought patterns, all of which are powerful elements in your life. You may discover areas you will need to let go of in order to take internal shifts to enter deeper into who you were created to be.
Creating a personal timeline is not about dwelling in the past, but about taking a bird’s eye view to understand the things that have shaped you. Knowing your life story can help bring a powerful impact on your life today. When we understand our past it can help us take steps forward.