We all should be breaking bad habits and trying not to repeat those patterns of the past. Things that we’ve either learned as children, adults, through business or personal interactions.

I was thinking about this a lot recently.

Specifically, I have no photos of my father. My grandfather – his father – had an abusive relationship. Growing up in Brooklyn, his father was very abusive and actually cut all of the heads out of all of the photos of his father. So, there are no photos of him.

Now my father had lots of pictures of my grandfather, but I think it’s interesting to think that I don’t have any pictures of him. Granted, we weren’t close and he wasn’t around very often, but one would think there would at least be one.

The subconscious mind is a very powerful thing. It can be very dangerous also if you’re not careful.

In our personal lives, it’s equally important to acknowledge things in the past as well as to address those things so that they do not repeat themselves again.

In business, it’s the same thing. All of us have people that we learn from, mentors, people that we looked up to, some of which were very healthy relationships, some of which not so much. The key is identifying what those issues are, addressing them head-on, and making sure that they don’t reoccur in the future.

We certainly do not want to pass on those behaviors to our kids, to those that look up to us as role models, or to those that depend on us for being the leaders that they need.

You cannot run away from your past. You can only address the things that you’re unhappy with, correct them, and do your best not to repeat them.

-J.D.