Will Rogers said, "Even if you're on the right track you'll get run over if you just sit there."

That's been my problem lately. I'm eating right, working out when I can fit it into my crazy work schedule and curbing bad habits that got me into trouble in the first place.

The one thing I haven't really done is move forward. I've sort of stagnated in my fitness regime, as well as for my writing and other professional goals. It's not as though I've been sitting on the beach all summer. Wayne and I haven't been out of town at all. My work schedule has been too chaotic to plan for time away, not to mention the need to tighten our belts for the foreseeable future.

Plans, dreams, visions, goals, whatever you want to call them, haven't found a place in my brain lately. Just because I'm busy living my life is no excuse to put these things on hold. I'm in a pretty good place, but I'll get run over if I'm not careful.

So how does one find motivation to improve one's life when one barely has time to form a cohesive thought? It isn't easy, but I've thought of a few steps I can take. I currently spend a lot of time in my car for my job. For the next few weeks that amount of time will increase. Driving usually means turning up the radio and taking it easy for an hour or so until I reach my destination. Then I do it all over again at the end of the day. That's at least two hours a day I'll never get back.

How can I better utilize those two hours that will put me a little closer to reaching my goals in the midst of a hectic schedule? Turning off the radio for starters. My day is filled with enough endless chatter. Brainstorming ideas and preparing my mind for work before I ever get into the car is another. If we're in the right frame of mind, we accomplish so much more when we actually begin working.

Midwesterners are naturally prudent and hate to waste or throw anything away. So why am I so careless with my most valuable commodity? My time.

What about you? What has put the brakes on your forward momentum? Lack of time? Motivation? Support from loved ones? Whatever it is, break the chains that bind and move forward.