1. Focus on the benefits. Remind yourself of what you stand to gain.  If you are trying to work out and/or eat healthier food, it helps to focus on how much better you are going to look and feel.  If you are trying to find ways to earn more money, focus on how proud you will be to finally give your family everything they deserve or even just get your creditors off your back.

2.One step at a time. Sometimes if you think of how far you need to go it can be easy to be overwhelmed by everything you need to do and not do anything at all!  Break your bigger goals in to several steps with each one leading you closer and closer to what you want.  Decide on the single most important thing that you can do to make progress toward your goal right now.

3.  Get some leverage. Think about the negative impact of not doing what you have chosen as your goal.  What will it cost you if you don’t follow through?  Will you lose money?  Will it hurt the quality or length of your life?  How will you feel about yourself if you don’t get this done?

4. Make yourself accountable. People are more prone to keep agreements with others than they are with themselves.  Tell people what your goals are and what you plan to do.  If you want to get promoted, tell your boss of your intentions and ask for their advice.  If you have trouble getting your weekend chores done tell your spouse, friends and children what you are planning to do.  It is no fun to tell the people you care about that you didn’t follow through.  Avoiding that pain is a great motivator.

5. Reward yourself. Use the power of anticipation.  When you have something to look forward to, you can get through almost anything.  Choose rewards that correspond to your goals.  If you are trying to lose weight a great reward would be some new clothes that compliment your improved figure.  If you are trying to find ways to increase your income decide to spend a percentage of your extra earnings on something you love.  Set a series of milestones and rewards that will lead you to your goal.

I don’t fly much, but when I do I prefer to sit by the window. I know many people would rather sit by the aisle because they get a little more shoulder room and have easy access to the restroom, but not me. One reason that I like the window seat is because I can lean against the wall if I decide to take a nap, but the biggest reason is that I am fascinated by how different things look from 30,000 feet. I can see for hundreds of miles and I get the chance to see things in a way that I never could from the ground. Things like how carefully the roads are laid out in a grid and just how many roads, towns and houses there are, even in remote areas. Looking at the clouds from above is like no other view on earth, but today it reminded me of what it must be like to be floating in the arctic ocean amongst the icebergs.

When I wake from one of my plane naps I always wonder “where are we?”. I try to guess based on the topography, the rivers and lakes and the population density. But from high above I have know way of knowing the names of the cities I see or who lives there. I can see the “big picture” but I miss out on the details.

Too often in life we become trapped by the view we have available and mistake it for the only view that exists. Employees may fail to realize that they are part of something bigger and executive sometimes don’t notice the little people below. We all take things for granted.

Today, take the time to find a way to change your perspective, if only for a moment. What have you been missing?

How can it be that my children know exactly how to make the biggest mess possible at any given time?!  It is like they have been given special training.  A bag of rice dumped on the floor.  Nail polish on the TV.  If I turn my back for a moment, they somehow know to go straight for the most difficult thing to clean up!  We’ve tried locking everything up as best we could, but now they are able to get into most anything between the two of them.  They help clean up when I make them, but they are slow and easily distracted.  It takes so much longer to clean up than it does to destroy!  Maybe there is a lesson in that.