How to Commit to a Goal
via How to Commit to a Goal — PsyBlog.
The key, according to PsyBlog, is not to simply fantasize about how much better it will be when you achieve your goal, or to wallow in how unhappy you are now, but to contrast those two with each other each time. Fantasizing tends to make you give up the goal because you hoax yourself into believing for a bit that it’s true. Wallowing in the reality tends to bring you down.
But contrasting the fantasy with the current reality motivates you to make a change.