The alarm goes off. You can get up or stay in bed.

Sure, you can give yourself ten more minutes but that ten minutes becomes another ten, and another ten. Before you know it an hour has passed, or more.

The other choice is to get up straight away. Don’t allow yourself to think about it, make it automatic, a reaction to the sound of the alarm. The alarm sounds, you get out of bed. Go straight into a routine – exercise, shower, brush teeth – whatever you need to do, whatever order works for you.

You can either put off the day for later or embrace it. It’s the same with life. Wake up, you have a choice to make.

It’s easy to work on the unimportant. It’s easy to work on the urgent. It’s easy to pass the time.

When will you work on your goals?

A day is a tricky thing. It goes by so fast if you let it. It slips past you when you’re not looking.

You have to grab it early to make the most of it.

You picked a goal and you’re pursuing it. Step after step, day after day, you’re getting there.

But, do you still want to? Is that goal still right for you?

Take some time to look at your goal with fresh eyes. If it’s still your goal, great. If not, that’s okay too. Better not to fool yourself.

If the goal is no longer what you really want, you need to decide if you should continue with it anyway. Maybe you’re close to the finish line and want to have a completed project to show for your time. Maybe you salvage the bits you want for the goal you really want to pursue. Maybe you complete it as it can be a stepping stone to the goal you really wish to pursue.

In a group you tend to conform. To not stick out too much. To try to be the same as everyone else.

We hesitate to see what others in the group will do. So we don’t have to make ourselves uncomfortable by being different. It’s the reason people don’t speak up when they see something wrong. That something might just be a typo on a screen during a presentation. That something could be the bullying of someone weaker.

The only thing we can do about this is to find the right group to conform to. Find a group that makes you brave, that’s makes you capable, that empowers you.

Over time we drift off course. At the beginning the drift is so small that we don’t notice. Left uncorrected, in time, the gap grows. First small, then large, then we can no longer the course we were on. To get back on course takes time. Days maybe, or years. Sometimes we drift much too far and give up on ever getting back on course.

Drift at your peril.

Wake up. You’re asleep at the wheel.

You’re eyes may be open but you’re not awake. You’re not watching where you’re going. You’re not steering. Wake up, you’re asleep at the wheel.

Life can be lived without your hands on the steering wheel. If that’s what you choose expect lots of crashes, lots of damage, and never to get on the right road.

Or you can steer. You need your hands on the wheel and you need to be awake. Look where you’re going. See the obstacles ahead. Choose the road you want to drive on. You can’t do that asleep.

You’re asleep at the wheel. Wake up.