You Can Tell Yourself Who You Are

We are all persons who have accumulated misdeeds in the past. This is indicated by the fact that at present bad thoughts constantly rise up in our minds, thereby showing that in the past for a long period we have become excessively used to these bad thoughts. In this way it is said that you can tell what you were doing in the past by examining your body now and that you can tell what will come in the future by looking at what you are doing with your mind now.
In any case, with regard to whatever misdeeds have been done in the past, you should engage in disclosure of them and in developing an intention to restrain from them in the future. For a Buddhist practitioner, the usual practices include prostration and recitation of certain mantras such as the one hundred syllable mantra. One of the best methods is to make gifts to poor and sick persons. The giving of donations for education as well as in the medical field is very great work, one of the best ways to gain merit.
--from The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace