Lose the pebbles

Muhammad Ali said, “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe.” The champ was referring to the everyday distractions that take us off course and keep us from seeing the bigger picture of our lives.
While the mountain, our life’s purpose, is always ahead of us, the pebbles often trip us up. We may perpetuate unhealthy behaviors, patterns and thoughts in our lives by worrying about all the what ifs, could have beens and never-going-to-be’s.
Keep your eyes fixed on that mountain! Eliminate the pebbles, one by one. Use these tips to clear out the pesky hindrances to your progress:

1. Fix the small stuff.
In our lifetimes, we will spend four solid years doing housework and an entire year just looking for things we have lost in our homes.  Precious days of our life are squandered if we lack discipline and preparation. You envision opening your own business one day, for example, yet haven’t made real progress towards this goal. The small stuff, the perpetual pebbles, are holding you back.
Do you keep looking for that form you need? Do you need a better way to organize your bills? Taking care of these small, yet taxing tasks, will free you up for the road ahead.  Take the time to organize your home, balance your checkbook and clear out the clutter; make the preparations necessary to focus your time and effort on the real game.

2. Never lose sight of your goal.
We must remain committed to our purpose and passion. This goes beyond lip service.  Which steps can we take every day towards being a better co-worker, friend or spouse?  Which actions can we point to in our lives that have cultivated not only our dream careers but also better care of ourselves?
Cornell University researchers studied something called the “endowment effect.” When we take complete ownership of our goals, we are more committed to their completion.  Writing them down and mapping out expectations for ourselves is key. There are hundreds of tools to write down and track our goals online. This chart called “ Your 101 Life Goals List ” is a great place to start.

3. Lose the emotional pebbles.
Our emotional well-being is vital to tackling the mountain. The daily pebbles we carry of stress, anxiety and disappointment slip us up.  Break down these rocks of emotional baggage the minute they creep up. Push back against stress with a different one of these thirty-three stress relieving strategies everyday.  Point number eleven “stop striving for perfection”, for example, reminds us that being easier on ourselves will start a chain reaction of positivity in our lives. Once these daily pressures find relief, we have a more fruitful journey.

Our lives are priceless; let’s thrive by carrying a lighter load everyday.  The extraction of the pebbles of distraction from your life will help you begin your ascension.