Perspective usually shows up late, like a friend who missed the whole party but still has great advice.

Understanding what was going on usually arrives after the thing is over. That is not a personal failure, it is how the mechanism works: you need the ending before the pattern shows. Which means judging your past self for not knowing what you know now is judging someone who did not have the information yet. They were working with what was available at the time.

When you catch yourself replaying an old decision, add the missing line: I did not know that then. Then use the advantage forwards. Write one note to the version of you who exists in six months, about what you can already see from here.