First Step: the Past doesn't matter, mind does.

Let's begin...

First, nothing that has gone on in your past or what is going on in your present defines your future. Even if you have done something that has resulted in the loss of personal freedom (yes, prison), your future is unwritten, unknown.

This means that your future can be heavily determined by your frame of mind about what is possible and what is not: your own imposed limitations. If you believe that you can't do this or can't do that or can't be this or that, then most likely your brain specifically your subconscious will ensure that you are not proven wrong.

In other words, you become your own worst roadblock by believing that you can't do or be something. This is why what parents tell their children when they are young has such an impact on their future self-image. The FBI BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) which a part of the NCAVC (National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime) has empirical evidence that many violent offenders were made so by the words or deeds impacted on them by their parents.

The great thing about humans is that we are not "locked into" any predetermined mind set or behavior. We all can change our thinking and thereby change what our minds focus on minute by minute. Vietnam POWs talk about the only thing they had during years of imprisonment was their ability to think, reason, and remember. Many say it was this ability that prevented their captors from breaking their wills.

The mind is beginning, the source, and the end of all human realization; our daily perspective on life is based on how we think the world is, not what it may be in reality. This is both good and bad since it can provide a positive or negative impact on our lives.

So, the first step is to realize that it our own mental processes that hold the key to our future success or failures.