Leo Babauta of Zen Habits posted 4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit nearly a year ago which, while focused on physical exercise, can really be applied to any exercise. In my case, the exercise is this web site.

While he outlines four steps, it really breaks down into two fundamental rules:

  • Set an achievable and measurable goal
  • Make yourself accountable to others as well as yourself.

While my overall goal is to get out of debt, I’ll be setting smaller, easily attainable goals along the way. Getting out of debt is inherently a long process and every little bit can help, but it’s really about building better habits. Creating new habits requires sticking to practices until they come naturally and automatically, so small goals help greatly.

As for holding myself accountable, that’s really what this site is here for. I will report not only my findings on what works for me, what doesn’t, and tips gathered along the way, but also my progress on each of my goals.

My initial goal is to post once per week. I have a number of topics queued up, so you’ll be seeing more from me in less than a week.