I was in a meeting last week when a presenter asked a question I’d heard in one form or another before, but this time it landed a little differently.
Why is a car’s windshield so much larger than its rearview mirror?
His answer was simple. Because what’s in front of you is more important than what’s behind you. The meeting moved on, but I kept thinking about it.
Over the weekend, I found myself reflecting on why that idea stuck with me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it put words to something that’s guided me for most of my life. The rearview mirror matters. Experience matters. Lessons matter. But every meaningful thing I’ve ever accomplished, whether in business or in life, came from focusing on what was ahead rather than dwelling on what was behind.
That thought took me back to something I learned during recovery. A discussion centered on what the two most important days of the week were. My immediate answer was the weekend. At that point in my life, that seemed obvious.
Instead, they said the two most important days are today and tomorrow. I’ve never forgotten that.
Maybe it’s because success, growth, recovery, and progress all require the same thing: a forward perspective. We respect the past. We learn from it. We keep it in view. But we don’t let it take the wheel.
What’s behind us has shaped us.
What’s in front of us is what defines us.
That’s where opportunity lives…for everyone.