In our comparison-rife culture, it can be tempting to focus on what we aren’t doing. The goals we aren’t working towards, the flashcards we didn’t review with the kids, the steps we didn’t take to fulfill our purposes. And it can be easy, too, to get bogged down by the urgent responsibilities of Today.

It is vital that we remind ourselves of all the times we’ve successfully navigated complex situations, or were bold enough to ask “What if?”, or materialized our visions through a series of many incremental steps. It puts us in the headspace to ponder the question, “How do I want to feel in the future?

From that perspective, the single phone call we make is what matters, not the seven hypothetical ones we could have but didn’t. The time we do make to care well for ourselves is what counts, not the fact that we could have added on a facial and a massage to boot.

As the end of the calendar year approaches, our ability to design our realities remains as potent as ever (the pressure of a count-down clock may be the motivating factor we need!).

When we get into action, we often find that actualizing our goals may be easier than we imagined.