Why And How To Look Back To Improve The Way You Move Forward

Detailed summary

It was when I started studying neuroscience to become a brain-based coach about 15 years ago that I started to recognize the game-changing nature of reflection.

​Liz Guthridge, Connect’s leadership coach and neuroplastician, helps you think more clearly, act more intentionally and live more fully.

“Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” – Rule #6 of Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige’s six rules of “How To Keep Young.”

This is the most famous and personal of the legendary baseball pitcher’s six rules, according to Larry Tye, author of Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend.

As a young teenager, I took rule #6 literally, focusing only on the present. In honor of Satchel, I stuck with this meaning for years, more than I’d like to admit. It was when I started studying neuroscience to become a brain-based coach about 15 years ago that I started to recognize the game-changing nature of reflection.

More recently, I’ve realized the rich nuances of rule #6 thanks to reexamining a special work experience from years ago. My key learning isn’t whether we look backward; it’s what we do when we go there. ​

When Satchel was in his late 60s, he became the vice president for sales and promotion for the Triple-A Tulsa Oilers, my hometown’s minor league baseball team. The team’s owner, A. Ray Smith, who rivaled Bill Veeck, P.T. Barnum and other showmen though on a smaller scale, hired Satchel primarily to boost ballpark attendance.

As a baseball fan and reporter for my school newspaper, I was thrilled that Satchel was joining the Oilers. Now I’d be able to meet a living legend who’d also be my older and wiser co-worker! My amazing summer job had become even more extraordinary.

The summer before, when I was 13, I had talked my way into becoming the Oilers’ first female vendor in the stands, selling “dry goods” (peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jacks). By season’s end, I had been dubbed the “Goober Girl” for my novelty and top sales. A. Ray had noticed my accomplishments, so he and the concessions staff expanded my role to selling programs before the game for the upcoming season. ​

This new job responsibility meant that I worked next…

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