Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt

Even though it may be natural and normal to reach out of your current situation for the next thing, doing so will, by default, invariably cause you to miss your only chance to actually experience life…which ALWAYS happens in the present.

We tend to say things like "if I just had such and such, then I could such and such." Unfortunately, none of us can live in tomorrow, or in a different reality right now. We CAN work towards a desired future, but only when we utilize what we have TODAY. We are stuck to the time and place and resources at our disposal at this very present moment. You cannot live in tomorrow anymore than you take tomorrow's breaths. You will get there, but not until you take the necessary breaths along the way.

There's a big difference between planning for a better future and reaching for one.

The first forces you to evaluate what is at your disposal right now and leverage it. What habits can you shift? Where can you invest? How can you enhance your reality right now?

Reaching for a better future, however, forces you to become disgruntled with the present and doesn't ever actually cause any change.

My leaders used to say the phrase "bloom where you are planted." I used to hate that quote because I wished I was planted somewhere else. Because of that, my heart was somewhere else as well. Preferably in a warmer climate and a better salary.

Here are a couple simple things you can do to plan for a better future.

1) Where are there gaps between your verbalized priorities and your actual time/financial investments? What can you practically do (this week) to line them up?

2) What are the areas where you are in a constant state of "starting?" Workout routine, spiritual habit or relationship investment? Either stop talking about starting or just do it. Maybe both.

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.”  -Henry David Thoreau