The following is an excerpt from my book, A Kick in the Attitude. To find out more about the book, click here.

Life is about managing the things that we tolerate. What are you no longer willing to tolerate? What is currently bad enough for your life that you are willing to let it go?

Once I was on an airplane flight, with an overtired mind, and I kept dwelling on a negative thought, watching it spiral in my imagination. Eventually, I started turning red with anger while sitting in my seat. I would have kept on that path of thinking for another hour—and my day would have been ruined—had it not been for a big old cloud that shook our plane.

When that plane hit turbulence, was I still thinking about my negative thought? Not at all. My pattern was broken, and my thinking interrupted. I had a new thought: wondering when the plane would stop jumping around!

When the turbulence was over, I had a choice: I could either go back to thinking the bad thoughts that didn’t benefit me in any way, or I could let the whole issue go and think about something that lifted my spirits. I had enough awareness of my thoughts that I could see the choice clearly, so I let my troubles go and built my day on a more productive outlook. All thanks to a nice jolt!

Whether you are dwelling on a little problem or zapped by the shock of turbulence, the lesson is the same: get over it and get on with it! That’s my philosophy when it comes to the obstacles in life that get in the way of achieving greatness or being our best. When I saw get on with it, I am referring to moving to a place where you are not hung up, caught up, or tripped up by your self-inflicted limitations, but are instead moving on and getting the best out of life and yourself. It takes courage and humility to take this step, but it is well within your power to do so.

Are you aware of something that is keeping you hung up or distanced from where you want to be in life? Is something blocking you from achieving your dreams and happiness? Is this thing keeping you from having fulfilling and connected relationships? What’s in the way? Is it perhaps not an “it”—but rather a “who”? Share your comments.