The missing link is consistency. Stop talking yourself out of what you can do now on the grounds of what you can't do yet.

You cannot avoid the reality of your problems. You have to face whatever it is you don't want to face and face it consistently. Whether that's a number on the scale, the balance of your bank account or a picture of your body - never turn away again. 

“To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of it’s strength and burden” ~ Seneca

"If you own the story, you get to write the ending" ~ Brene Brown

You will make hundreds of choices every single day. They won't all be ideal. Instead of letting a bad choice justify other bad choices and instead of getting emotional about it, simply tell yourself: choose again. 

"Those who don't move don't notice their chains"

Every time you redirect your attention from the past or the future into the present moment, you strengthen that pathway. The reverse is just as true. 

Those easy choices seem easy in the moment, but they aren't making your life easier. Easy choices create a hard life while those hard choices create an easier life. 

The hardest part is at the start, before you've mentally committed & established momentum. 

I choose to be happy. I choose to stop complaining, right now, right here, today.