https://paloaltoonline.com/blogs/p/print/2013/11/23/up-until-now

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Up Until Now

I was playing basketball recently and the first couple of shots I took didn't go in. It just wasn't going to be my night I thought. That happens sometimes. Nothing's going in. With those thoughts in mind, I kept missing. Until I remembered those three little words: "Up until now." Such a simple concept: You can actually change the results you are getting by freeing yourself from that self-limiting thought that it's "not your game", or "this always happens to me", or "I always screw this up."

That person who says "I always get lost" when they're going to some particular destination? Guess what? They always do. It's pre-ordained, in their mind. They might have a very good chance of breaking that cycle using those three little words "Up until now." They are giving themselves permission to stop screwing up, stop making the same mistake over and over again.

My mother-in-law (the sweetest woman, I miss her dearly) was one of those folks who always lost her keys. Never failed. I wish I knew those three words then when she could have used them. Losing those keys was a foregone conclusion. In her mind. She didn't have a chance.

Back to the game. I stopped missing and started hitting my shots. Then I started shooting and expecting they would all go in. It was incredible. I haven't missed a shot in 6 weeks (yeah, and I'm Steph Curry's shooting coach.) But I did go on to make a bunch of shots. "Up until now." Try it. It works for every situation where you find you are continuing to fail and think it's pre-determined to happen that way. You can control your self-talk! Or it can control you. You make the call.