Becoming a Superhuman One Goal at a Time

I used to write long lists of goals, get all ambitious all at once.  And inevitably crash and burn and return to a life of just slouching along.  But, I've started looking at goals from a whole new angle!

I read The Power of Less and really liked it.  It's a quick little read and served to remind me of priorities and perspectives that are easy to lose sight of.  The author suggests tackling goals one at a time and maintaining laser-like focus on only that one goal.  So, I made a long list of all the things I want to change and accomplish, then I broke it down into individual goals that I'm spending 30 days on each.  It just so happened that I ended up with 12 goals or habits I want to implement, so I should be pretty amazing this time in 2012:)

Goal number one was to do creative writing every day, and I nailed that one!  (Composition notebook above?  Completely full!)  In the past I've gotten bogged down with all the writing I have to do (magazines, blogs, copywriting etc.), i.e. the paying writing, that at the end of the day I often didn't make time for the most important writing, the creative, feed-my-soul writing!  Now I'm in the habit of working on a story every night and I love it.  By the way, is anyone going to do Nanowrimo this year?

Goal number two was to rise between 4 and 5am every day.  And that one?  I'm terrible at it, just terrible.  I think #2 should've been get to bed before 10pm, then I could've tackled getting up early as the third goal.  I'm considering paying myself $20/day for a month in an all-or-nothing sort of deal.  I'm getting desperate.  I really want to be a morning person, and on the rare occasion that I am up early, I LOVE it!  Anyone have any tips?

So, despite my failure at goal #2, I still believe in the method.  Sleeping in is just my Achilles heel.  But next month, when I start exercising daily, I have full faith that I'll be able to make it a habit.  How do you set goals?  Do you have goals that you tackle over and over? 

Here are a few more I plan on taking a stab at in the coming months.

• Meditating daily
• Creating and following morning and evening routines
• Being cheerful
• Being faithful
• Being online on one time a day for less than an hour

I feel like I often have these big lofty goals, but they're on the other side of a chasm, with no bridge to get there.  Breaking it down into little steps helps me see how I can get to the other side (the side where I publish a book!).  Speaking of those lofty dreams, I recently got to have lunch with an author and it was SO fun!  Being around other writers and lovers of the written word really helps me stay focused on my own creative goals.  Don't you think that's such an important part of keeping a dream alive?  The feeding of the dream?  Anyway, more about that later when I finish his book I'm reading:)