Eyes on the Prize

People tend to get distracted from their goals by negative thoughts or worrying about what could go wrong. For example, if your goal is to clean your garage, you might say to yourself, "What's the point, it will just get messy again." Or, "I'll never get this done today. I'll do it when I have more time." These negative thoughts prevent you from seeing the true goal.

The next time you have an unpleasant task to complete, make a note of any negative thoughts that arise. Try to counter each negative thought with something positive. You could say, "It won't get messy again if I put in place an organization scheme that works." Or "Maybe I can't get this all done today, but I could get the left side of the garage finished today and then I could park my car inside." Picking an appropriate goal and keeping negative thoughts from distracting you will make it easer to stay motivated.