From Grace's Desk

Are You Living in the Past or in the Present?

3 mins read

I have a gift…

I have a gift for seeing who my clients really are.

Regardless of their age, their position, or their financial situation, I can see a young child or a boy or girl who used to dream.

It is a privilege for me to meet their true identity.

After a few minutes or a few hours of our sessions, their faces start to smile and their eyes shine. It feels as though I’m at a reunion with my middle school friends. The same old good friends but just in different body shapes or older faces. We share our life stories and sometimes laugh at ourselves. I finally get to meet their souls and spirits instead of their titles or job positions.

Sometimes, we are too caught up in our past that we tend to carry them to our present. Our past dictates our presence, and we allow ourselves to dwell on it. Repeating the same things and the same thoughts. Being the same person from yesterday, last month, or even last year.

Some experiences contribute to our growth and some of them limit us to becoming small and weak.

Isn’t it time to put our yesterday behind us and become a new person today? Holding on to our past prevents us from creating a different future.

We see ourselves defined by our past experiences, knowledge, or external opinions. But experiences are only experiences, just like the different seasons or the changing weather.

Seasons pass, whether or not we give meaning to them. They contribute to the growth of the living, good or bad. That’s what nature is! It isn’t swayed by opinion, trauma, or guilt.

Nature doesn’t give meaning to experiences, they just grow and contribute to the earth’s life cycle.

But unlike nature, why do human beings put so much meaning into their past?

People, money, success…they tend to become the driving forces of life’s meaning. And that shouldn’t be the case.

Yesterday, one of my new clients told me that he is constantly stressed. He knows that he needs to change but he doesn’t know how. Turns out that his past experiences created this certain kind of fear. He created his own identity as a stressed man, repeating the past and imposing his own meaning on it.

He said that he wants to unlearn….

I honor his vulnerability and the recognition that he needed help.

Most of the time when I start with new clients, my approach to coaching is DEprogramming old habits or changing past beliefs or meanings that do not serve their growth. Then, we begin creating new possibilities.

We start with awareness. And it takes immense courage to finally acknowledge that we can sometimes be prisoners of our past.

Once we get past that, the sense of freedom installs again and we regain the power of our lives.

The creation of the new ME starts.

Grace Najean

ICF PCC · Former Tony Robbins Master Coach

Grace Najean is the founder of The Soulfluence™ and the creator of The Soulfluence™ Method. She is an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC), keynote speaker, and is currently finalising her first book, launching September 2026. With 5,000+ coaching hours and eight years as a former Tony Robbins Master Coach, she works with executives, founders, business owners and high performers across Australia, USA, Canada, Singapore, India and Europe. Based in Perth, Western Australia.

Follow Grace's Socials

Share this article

Facebook
LinkedIn
Threads
WhatsApp
Keep reading

More from Grace's Desk

2 mins read

The Hidden Power of Momentum

You may have noticed that once you get engrossed on a piece of work or started on a project you may find it hard to stop, lose track of time,

4 mins read

My Life Transformation: From an Overachiever to a Life Strategist

I was born to achieve and succeed… My life motto is ‘Make it happen’ and get things done. All my personal profile tests show me that I’m driven, my accomplishments

2 mins read

The birth of a new year – is it time to get what you really want?

Some of my clients come to coaches to be happy… So, I ask them, what makes them happy? Oftentimes, the answer is, “I don’t know,” or some vague ideas about