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Incapable of Looking Backwards

By June 27, 2014No Comments2 min read

This has been a common theme in just


aboutall of the Q&As I’ve ever done, and I find it fascinating. It’s one of those questions that I love and hate at the same time.

There is something inside of me that makes completely and utterly incapable of looking backwards.

The answer to these questions is always “no.” I suppose at the same time the answer could very well be “maybe everything,” but I know what the net result has been, and of course I’m very happy.

You always hear people say “I never would have done anything differently, ” but the truth is, you can’t go back and do anything differently.

So all of my optimism is always tempered by a heavy dose of practicality. There is nothing I can go into the past and change, so spending any of my time on “the defense” is something that I’m just not capable of. I only focus on “the offense,” which in this case is the future.

As a matter of fact, if you really break down how I approach business (and, I guess, life, at some level), I’m always looking forward to the next thing. I live my life around the long term future (One day, I’m going to buy the Jets), and the immediate future (I can’t wait to spend next week with my family), and really nothing in between.

I’m just always looking forwards. I spend very little time, looking backwards, and it’s not because of anything other than the fact that I’m just not capable of it. It’s just not how I’m wired.

The only thing that keeps me up at night is, as I get older, what will happen when I’m 80 or 90. When I know that, practically, there just aren’t that many more years to look forward to. When I get to that age, that’s when I fear I might start to get retrospective. Other than that, the future is what gives my life energy. Looking back just isn’t practical.