When I was in my psychiatric residency, one of our assignments was to write our resume, not as it existed now, but as we wanted it to read five years in the future. We were told we should then pull it out occasionally to check our progress.

I did the exercise as instructed, and in just ONE year, I had achieved everything in my five year plan.

Goals must be something you can count or measure. Income is obviously countable. Finishing my book by the end of the year is measurable.

Where I see my patients get lost is when there goal is "I just want to be happy." How do you count or measure that?

When I was finishing the editing on my first book, I'd check into a hotel for a week. I'd get up early, have a room service breakfast, and then work from 6:00-12:00. I didn't answer my phone or turn on the TV. I didn't check emails or my "likes" on social media.

Putting those boundaries around myself helped me accomplish my goals, and I still had a chance to sit by the pool with a margarita all afternoon.