New year, new you? Not so fast! Set goals the SMART way

Set an intention for myself that New Year that I was going to sleep at least eight hours a night. Now, to do this, I had to cancel hanging out with friends later in the evenings for me to do this consistently. I actually, at 26 years old, gave myself a bedtime of 9pm and in planning this out, I knew that I wasn't gonna fall asleep at 9pm on the first night or on the second night or on the third night. But I made myself go to bed at that time and just rest, rest without the TV on, without my phone with me, until my circadian rhythm started getting acclimated to going to bed at 9pm and I actually started falling asleep really quickly. But it took some time and I planned this out after doing some research on it. After doing this for five months, I realized how unhappy I was in my job. I realized that I needed a break from city living, and I was able to strategize my exit from working at the company that I was at, from living in the city.