4 simple goals

Today I'm linking up with A Beautiful Mess, and Sharing my 4 Simple Goals.

As you might be aware, I already have a bucket list of goals, 25 to be precise, to accomplish before my 25th birthday in February, but based on the nature of the goals suggested, I thought why not add another 4, to hold close over the last 4 months of 2012.

You see, the purpose of these goals is not to accomplish a specific task, but rather to focus on to improve your life in general. Things that if I work hard towards over the next 4 months, might just become habits that I keep indefinitely. So here they are, my 4 simple goals.

1. No More Snooze Button! this might just be the hardest one for me, so lets get it out there right away. I am a snooze button monster. It is so easy for me to hit snooze every 5 minutes for an entire hour. To avoid being perpetually late, I set my alarm way earlier than I need to, knowing I'm going to hit snooze. This needs to stop, people like @TrainerErrick and posts like the one I found yesterday on what successful people do with the first hour of their day; (and my own plain common sense) tell me how important it is to wake up and seize the day. My most productive days are the ones when I hop right out of bed and get at it. So goal number one, get rid of the snoozing, and get going!
2. Prints, prints, prints! I have been living in my apartment here in Calgary for over a year now. And I don't have a single picture of family or friends up anywhere! One of my best friends @setulk prints her photos within days of taking them, Every time I go to her apartment there are new photos up on the walls (always perfectly framed too!) and it's so cozy. This may be a cop out goal, because it is one of my 25, but I'm making it a huge priority. I want my home to be full of memories and love... and sometimes that means getting the pictures off my PC and onto my walls.
3. Just Keep Running! An obvious one, considering if you've been around my blog this week you know I've got a half marathon set for November 11. So this goal comes in two parts.....(1) run, at least 3 times a week (at least!) between now and race day. (2) don't stop because you finished your race, as was this issue with my first 10 back in May, I ran hard and long leading up to it, and then fizzled out as soon as I was done. This should not be about finishing a race, but about becoming someone who can honestly call themselves a runner.
4. Read that stack on Papers! On my desk at work, and on my table here at home, I have stacks of papers to read for school. Stacks! and they constantly grow (especially now because I'm going to be taking another course this semester) So I need to get reading, I need to be in the habit of tucking in to at least one a day during the week. Grad school is a very self directed learning process, some of which comes from doing the actual science, but a lot of which comes from reading. You have to have yourself fully immersed in the literature, all the time, to be successful. So I need to up my game, and become someone who regularly is reading, not just in spurts and bursts.