Habit forming

Conventional wisdom says that when you sent goals they should be SMART.  That is:
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Attainable
R - Realistic
T - Timely

I was going to say that none of my goals are SMART but I think one snuck in there when I wasn't looking!

3) Pick one habit a month to work on.


My habit for May is SLEEP!  I have a bad habit of getting caught up in the things I'm doing and going to bed way too late.  Which then causes me to hit the snooze button a few too many times.  Then I rush around the house trying to leave in the morning and NOT miss the bus.  If I'm lucky I rush out of the house with no breakfast, no lunch, no important item for the work day and make the bus!  Most of the time I've missed it along with all the other things that make my day better.  Then the late start to the day turns into a late start to the evening.  So, if I'm not rushing out of the house in the evening that translates to a choice - do I attempt everything I wanted to do that evening or do I put something off until tomorrow?  (Generally I try to do a little too much which causes staying up late and repeating the cycle tomorrow)

All of that from such a simple thing as staying up past my bedtime.  Who would have ever thought mum was right!? :)

Of course, telling myself that I'm going to go to bed at 10PM doesn't work all that well. (I tried that!)  It's too easy to ignore the clock.  So, this is what I'm doing to make things work:

• Alarm clocks & Timers are your friend
• I've set a timer to go off at 9:45PM each evening.  This is my notice to wrap things up and pack it in.
• Planning ahead
• On the bus ride home I'm taking a few minutes to figure out what I really need/want to do that evening.  This leads to actually starting the things I need to do before 10PM.

How is all of this working?  It's going pretty well so far.  I'm half way through the month and there was one lapse (when I thought I didn't need a timer to remind me).  I am discovering that Wednesday evenings and weekends are my trouble spots.  Wednesdays I get home from bible study around 10PM and then I don't feel like going straight to bed.  (Generally, I need a little time to wind down whenever I'm out at night.)  Weekends - well there is going out, parties, and the knowledge that I don't have to wake up too early the next morning.  I've decided that since late nights on weekends aren't causing me problems, weekends are now holidays from bedtime! :)

Life 1.0

I hate my life!

Since we only get one life, I can't wait around for an upgrade to Life 2.0.  So I guess it's up to me to do something about it.

But where to begin?  Health?  Job?  Family?  Hobbies?  Everything?  It's overwhelming.  Plus, conventional wisdom says:

1. Set your goal
2. Pursue your goal

What happens if you don't know what your goals are?

If you're me, you decide to ignore conventional wisdom and wander your own path.  So, even though I have no idea where I'm going, I'm going to go anyways.  Making it up as you go along works!  Right?

Since I don't know where I want to go, I figure any action is better than no action.  Besides, I really want to be able to look back a year from now and say 'I'm glad I started'.

What does this look like?

1. Figure out what I want to be when I grow up.  
• This starts with working through some aptitude tests, career finder books, etc.
2. Eating healthier
• As I eat things from the pantry, replace them with healthier versions
• Learn to cook food at home
3. Pick one habit a month to work on