Crush Your Goals With This 5-Minute Sunday Habit

The 3 steps and 5-minute habit that helped me crush even my loftiest goals, including publishing 9 books and launching a multimillion-dollar company.

Photo by Elena Koycheva

I was sitting in a parking lot of all places, five minutes left until my hair appointment, when I hit that magical place in the book I was reading — the place that explains a bizarre title.

The book: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

The scene: The author’s brother is lamenting an upcoming test he’s preparing for in which he has to identify numerous birds by their legs alone. Overwhelmed, the son asks his dad how he’ll ever memorize them all.

To which his dad replies, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

My psychologist says advice that changes our lives is often advice we’ve heard before — the timing is what’s different. At the time that I read Bird by Bird, I was contemplating leaving a career in advertising to write novels full time. That moment in the parking lot, two things happened:

1. I realized I needed to take the leap of faith and quit.
2. I knew I’d only find success through diligent goal setting since I’d no longer report to a traditional boss.

So that’s exactly what I did — I took the leap, penned the goals, and have since…