Gatsby's Mistake

"You're wrong about the past, old sport. You're wrong."

It turns out, Gatsby was wrong in this instance. In fact, his insistence that you can go back and recreate the past was his major character flaw.

Gatsby was great, but his downfall was precipitated by his obsession with going back in time--a physical (as far as we know) impossibility. Gatsby wasn't Doc Brown--neither are we.

Don't spend (waste!) your time obsessing over the past. Oh, if only I did this. Oh, I should have done that.

No.

Extract the lessons to be learned from past experiences and move on. Conversely, don't spend too much time focused on the future, thinking about your Rome, without taking the action required today to one day achieve this vision.

Live in the Now.