Have you ever taken a break from an exercise regime only to come back a few days later and realize you had lost ground? Your times were slower; your exhaustion quicker. Perhaps it was a break from keeping the house clean, just a few days, and then a seemingly insurmountable mess of stacked dirty dishes and heaps of dirty clothes. Or any habit, really, that takes day in and day out attention can feel like it is easily lost—like pushing forward on your dreams.

Keeping forward momentum in life is important. It is so easy to slide back, to lose ground, to let tasks build up until they are a mountain you no longer want to climb. But pushing yourself, each day, little by little, isn’t nearly as overwhelming.

Hold your ground. And then keep going. You can do this.