Count downs are SO last year.

Ever put together a jigsaw puzzle? The excitement is seeing how much progress you can make each time you sit down to work on it. Even though all puzzles start out telling you how many pieces there are, I don’t think anyone spends much time counting how many pieces are left in the box. Instead they enjoy seeing the picture grow on the table and want to see how much of it they can build.

Who would enjoy taking apart a house of cards one card at a time? No one. The fun part is seeing how high we can build it.

Sadly, we don’t see projects in our lives with the same excitement. Too often, we are focused on how many pieces are left in the “box” and not enjoying the fun of how much progress we’ve already made.

It really takes the fun out of it.

We count down how many months left in school, how many more minutes left in a meeting, how many years until the children grow up. We count how many minutes left on the treadmill, how many laps left to run, how many pounds to lose, how many days left on a diet…

It really takes the fun out of it!

If you are taking on a new challenge, try looking at it from the perspective of building up, instead of breaking down. Count the minutes you complete on the treadmill, the days you stick to your diet plan, the number of new healthy meals you create, the times you make it to the gym. Don’t count consecutively. Count every minute, every lap, every day, every meal.  The point is, BUILD. And build up. Don’t even think about “the end.” You may be surprised what a big difference this small change in thinking can make!

NEXT POST: my experience with diets.