Whether you are trying to lose weight, stop smoking, achieve financial success, land your dream job, or accomplish any other goal, it's so important to remember to keep your focus where it should be—on the path to it.

So many times one gets sidetracked from their path by "rocks" (challenges) or by distractions—the immediate, the "good" (vs. the ideal), others' naysaying, other goals or priorities. This causes you to vear from the path and lose sight of the goal—your "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow.

"Obstacles are those dreadful things we see when we take our eye off the goal." — (source unknown)

Keep your eye on the prize. Don't go looking for rocks on the side, for you shall surely find them if you are looking. And if a rock is right there in your path, there are always options—you can go around it, over it, under it, or blow it up!
 
You might even find that if you simply turn around for a moment to see where you came from and are not willing to go back to, when you turn back around what once appeared to be a boulder will now seem just a little rock that you can easily deal with.

So just take it one step at a time. Even the mightiest oak can be felled with enough swings of an axe. You just gotta keep swinging.

“When we are sure that we are on the right road there is no need to plan our journey too far ahead. No need to burden ourselves with doubts and fears as to the obstacles that may bar our progress. We cannot take more than one step at a time.” — Orison Swett Marden

And remember, if you can find a path without any obstacles upon it, it probably doesn't lead anywhere interesting!