Why Looking Back Might Be the Most Powerful Move Forward
- PG Geldenhuys
- Jun 24
- 2 min read
It’s a strange feeling, looking down on the scene of your greatest failure.
Twenty years ago, I was a young, untested leader in a corporate setting, full of ambition but short on experience. I took my eye off the ball at a critical moment, and my leadership team fell apart. The setting? East Coast Radio House in Umhlanga. The lesson? Brutal, unforgettable, and necessary.
Fast-forward to two weeks ago. I found myself in the same area - only this time, I wasn’t fumbling in the dark. I was standing tall, facilitating leadership development for a major bank. And from the 14th floor of their new building, I looked down on East Coast Radio House. Same location, entirely different me.
It was one of a few full-circle moments recently.
Growing up, one of the highlights of my childhood was travelling to Sun International resorts with my dad, mum, sister, and friends. Golf was my joy, and some of my best early memories are tied to tee boxes and fairways on some of South Africa’s finest courses. My dad is long gone now, but this week, I returned to one of those same courses - Gary Player Country Club - with my boys, my mum, and Deon, a best friend of decades.
We laughed. We told stories. We chased balls in the bush. It wasn’t just a round of golf, it was a memory built on top of a memory. And in that moment, everything connected.
That’s the thing about revisiting old favourites. Sometimes you go back and you feel loss. Sometimes you go back and you feel joy. But the richest experiences give you both. They remind you of who you were, what shaped you, and what still matters. You carry it forward - not to live in the past, but to build more intentionally in the present.
That’s always been the tug-of-war for me. As an Enneagram 7, I’m wired for what's next. I love the future. The next idea. The next trip. The next project. Being here, in the present, is often the hardest part of the work.
But lately, I’ve found that honouring the past - really honouring it - helps me slow down enough to recognise that the present is already everything I hoped for. The work, the people, the chance to do what I love, and to share it with the people who matter most. That’s not a stepping stone. That’s the destination.
So whether you’re revisiting an old failure, an old holiday tradition, or just an old playlist, don’t rush past what it has to show you. There’s gold in the replays.
PG’s Pro Tip:
Honour your memories. Build new ones. But don’t let the ghosts of the past or the worries of the future steal your presence. That’s where the real magic is.
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