Turning "If Only" Into Motivation

I finally recognized one of the major sources of my trouble - my "if only" attitude. This attitude has a lot to do with being unsatisfied, I suppose, with the way my life currently is. It's that, "the grass looks greener" perspective. What I feel during my "if only" moments can be confused with motivation. On the surface they look very similar. After all, I say things like, "If only I could start a successful freelance business" or "If only I had enough money to send these at risk youth to college." I want and need to always be motivated to help others, to fulfill my purpose, etc. So, how can I distinguish between motivation and mere discontent, or my "if only's"? What can I do to bring balance and perspective to my feelings of not being good enough (as described by a test on Tickle.com) or my worry that I'm not doing enough? There could be a number of answers, but here's where I plan to start:

1) Reminding my self that while I'm longing for a better life (or someone else's life) there are billions of people who are wishing for or would like to have my life, or one similar to mine. The bottom line is, no matter what's wrong or missing, my life is actually quite good. No matter what I never do, I have done a lot. No matter how cheated I feel, I've had tons of breaks. The list goes on.

2) Stop saying "if only" to the past. A huge part of my problem, and one that clearly is NOT motivation, is that I regret the past and think that things would be better "if only I had said ... to so and so" or "If only I had not ... then I would have what I wanted" etc. The truth is, if I'm discontent with my life because of things that occurred in the past, that's not the discontentment that leads to motivation. However, if I'm not satisfied with the PRESENT, then I can TAKE ACTION to change the present and affect the FUTURE. That's motivation.

 
3) Turning my wishes into goals. Wishing and hoping is a waste of time unless I take action to make it happen. So often I daydream about what my life could be like, without planning a course to get me there. That's the biggest difference between mere discontent and motivation.