One of the most powerful aspects of my mile each day habit is that I didn't set out to achieve anything from the habit. There is no end I had in mind, and therefore there's never been a possibility of me being disappointed because I've spent so much time on it and not achieved my goal.
Leo Babauta talks about this in his excellent new book Zen Habits. He describes it as like planting a seed and watering it each day and simply seeing what comes up and if it bears any fruit or not.
I have been very lucky and ended up with a monthly column in Running Fitness magazine, but it certainly wasn't a goal of mine, it was an unexpected fruit.
It's very different to starting a habit because you have a definite end goal in mind, where there's a chance that should it look like you won't achieve your exact goal, you may become disillusioned and give up on the habit.
There's a lot to learn from nature and the natural growth cycle. Something we seem to have largely forgotten.
Start new habits because they support the life you want to live.
As James Allen said, "Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny."
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