Goal Planning 101: 5 Simple Actions To Take Before Starting a Goal Planner

It’s that time of year when every planner company is marketing their tried and true method to help you set and meet those life-changing goals you’ve been putting off. What are they promoting? Goal setting planners. They’re all over the internet right now and come in all shapes and sizes: small, 6-month travel journal inserts; 90-day hard bound books; and year-long goal setting planners. They are glossy, beautiful, come with stickers, and can be so intimidating, many people who buy them end up never getting started. That said, people purchase these planners with sincere intentions to make positive changes in their lives. If you are reading this blog right now and the idea of goal planning resonates with you, that’s probably because there is a part of you looking to grow and change.

Full disclosure: I did not even think about goal planning until I was surfing my Pinterest feed and saw pictures of goal planners. Being a planner fanatic, I hopped onto my browser and researched what all the hype was about. It seems all sorts of women were buying these planners, and they were doing so for different kinds of goal planning. Some obviously wanted to start a new business or side hustle. But, others wanted to deepen their faith, lose weight, or have more meaningful experiences with their families.

As someone who supervises interns and teaches at a law school, I’m really fortunate to be able to sit in on speaking events where a successful member of the legal community imparts words of wisdom to law students. Although every lawyer and judge has different perspectives to share, their speeches have one thing in common: all encourage striving for excellence and continuing to grow. As one judge put it, “if you’re not moving forwards, you’re moving backwards.” Most successful people remain so because they are not complacent about what they have achieved. They are always seeking to improve themselves and try new things. And, this is where I thought a goal planner might come in handy, as I too want to keep growing and improving in all aspects of my life.

Goal setting does not have to involve creating major life changes for yourself. Sometimes just the desire to try something new can be a goal. For many women, we forget to take care of ourselves, so self-care or improved health can be a goal. We are always aging, and change is always on the horizon. Goal setting helps you to go along that path with some purpose and intention. This is why goal setting planners contain lots of worksheets and journaling prompts that are meant to draw out your deepest desires. However, they can be a bit intimidating. So, before you crack open one of these planners, first break out your journal and try one or more of these 5 Tips that will help you prepare to set some goals and work your way through one of the many goal setting planners that are on the market right now. After the tips, read on to learn which goal planner I prefer and some others which are available.

5 Actions Before You Use a Goal Setting Planner:

1. Dream– When we were little, we all had dreams and visions of what the future would hold for us. Often, this continued through our formative years and sometimes into our 20’s. But, adulting is hard, and we often forget what it was like to dream about amazing things we could do or experience. So, try this- get out a piece of paper and brainstorm some big dreams for yourself. They can be about your career, relationships, faith, health, or finances (or all of the above). Is there a trip you’ve always wanted to take? Is there a job you have always wanted to try or a skill you’ve wanted to learn? Where do you want to be in 1, 5, or 10 years? Dream big as that is often the starting point for identifying a goal. Remember, we do not need to limit our dreams to one area of our lives. So, dream about all the facets of your life and the possibilities they hold. Write out your bucket list!

2. Ask– Try asking yourself this one question: what is the one change you can make that would have a major positive impact on your life right now? Again, do not be limited by thinking about just career goals. For some people, getting fit would give them the energy to be more engaged with their families. For others, getting out of a toxic relationship would provide freedom to move forward. Some folks may need to make a financial change to feel they are safeguarding their futures. What change or changes would most help you?

3. Look Back– Often, one way to figure out which goals you would like to reach requires acknowledging your motivations and passions. And, these often revealed themselves when you were much younger. In your mind, travel back to when you were a child. What sorts of things brought you the most joy? Did you love art? Were you really organized? Did you start a newsletter for your family or pretend to be a reporter? Did you bustle around an imaginary office where you bossed your toys around? Were you the veterinarian or doctor for those toys? How did you see your future back when everything seemed possible? Most importantly, what made your heart flutter when you contemplated making it part of your life? When I was little, I was always trying to organize my toys. I used my chalkboard to teach them their ABCs. And, I was always writing stories- telling about my toys’ lives or creating characters. So, it’s not surprising that I ended up as a research and writing attorney who also juggles an adjunct teaching position at a law school.

4. Face the Dark Side– No, I don’t mean join the Vader-worshipers and start trying to take over the galaxy. What I’m suggesting is that if you are not feeling so hopeful at the moment, perhaps list out all the things in your life that are making you unhappy or obstacles that seem to be holding you back. Then, take a good look at your list and see if any of these things help you to figure out what changes you need to make in order to be on a more positive path. Some things we cannot change- the illness of a loved one, the loss of someone we care about, the destruction of a home. But, other things are within our power to make better- the job you hate, the lack of money, the feeling that you are alone in the world. There are goals you can set to address many of the changeable things that make us exist in an unhappy place.

5. Read or Listen– If after trying the other four tips, you are still not inspired, why not find a motivational speaker or author who does inspire you? It does not matter who you listen to so long as their message is positive, aligns with your values, and gets you excited about your future. For some folks, this could be a religious leader or speaker. For others, motivational speakers such as Tony Robbins, Rachel Hollis, or Jen Sincero will be most helpful. If your area for improvement is financial, there are many authors, bloggers, and YouTubers who are offering inspiration and advice about budgeting. Or, look for individuals who are currently excelling in an area you feel you need to improve and seek out their writings or podcasts for motivation.

Now that you’ve done some self-reflection using the five action items above, which goal planner should you use? I use only one and highly recommend it.

What I use: the PowerSheets Goal Planner–

When I say I saw a lot of goal setting planners on Pinterest, I should have been more specific. What I saw were mostly photos of different tending lists, which is part of the PowerSheets Goal Planner by Cultivate What Matters. What I love about this goal setting planner is that it has a full year’s worth of habit trackers and goal setting worksheets to help you identify meaningful goals and see them through. I started using a PowerSheets Planner more than a year ago and just purchased my third, which is really different from the ones I’ve had in prior years.

Here are the specs:

• Unlike last year’s plastic spiral-bound version with a soft cover, this year’s planner has a hard cover with gold foil corners and gold double o-ring binding.
• There is a single page of stickers that are meant to help you color-code your goals (something I started and find really helpful). But, to really get the most out of the color-coding system, I recommend getting the Goal Setting Sticker Book.
• After a few introductory pages and the sticker sheet, the true work begins on page 7. There, you will begin to brainstorm and identify your goals using questionnaires and worksheets that go through page 34.
• Once you have identified those goals, you then get to the first section divider, titled (not surprisingly) “Goals.” This section, from pages 35-59, will help you narrow down your goals into steps and timelines for achieving them. By the time you reach the January tab, you will have a blueprint for figuring out what to place on that month’s tending list.
• The tending list is really just a habit tracker that includes monthly, weekly, and daily action items or habits. It allows you to monitor progress made toward goals on one of those three bases. So, if there is something that only needs to get done that month (say, reorganizing the linen closet), place it on that top section of the tending list. Other things should be done weekly (for me- a blog entry per week, or completing a painting) and tracked in the weekly action section. For the daily action items, these are daily habits that will help you achieve a goal such as exercise, going to bed by a certain time, reading, or gratitude journaling. Each tending list is on perforated paper, so you can tear it out and keep it wherever you will be most likely to use it. (I keep mine on my nightstand, so no need to tear it out).
• The beginning of each month’s section includes some prep work to identify the specific habits you will be tending to reach your goals. There is now a monthly calendar spread included for each month to help identify when best to focus on certain goals.
• At the end of each month’s section, there is a Month In Review so you can evaluate how things are going and if there are any changes to make.
• Because this is a year-long planner, and goals can change and evolve as the year progresses, each change of season has its own tab and worksheets in which you reevaluate and can alter your goals. Add or omit them as you please. The planner is meant to promote your goals, so I always take the opportunity to make sure it is in line with my aspirations at that very time in my life.
• After your December Month in Review, there is a Celebrating the Year section in which you write down a highlight from each month. I often use my gratitude journal to fill this in, and it’s a great way to review the year.
• To make personalize my planner and make it more user-friendly, I attached a Happy Planner Pen loop to the back cover (#Ad) and use a binder clip from the Happy Planner Top Priorities Clip set (#Ad) to mark my page. Post-It flags (#Ad) help to mark the original prep worksheets that I review as I plan each month.
• Finally, for folks not ready to commit to a 12-month planner or who discover PowerSheets part-way through the year, they also sell a 6-month, undated PowerSheets Planner that usually launches in the spring.

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I believe that the PowerSheets system works if you put in the effort to doing the prep work. I have set small goals (such as creating a PowerPoint presentation for a work seminar- achieved this October) and larger ones (giving up my handicap tag and getting out of foot braces- achieved April 2019!!), and feel that these sheets help to hold me accountable so I can make consistent progress toward achieving my goals, no matter their size. I do my beginning-of-the-year prep work the few days I take off during the holidays- just an hour or so each day, and I’m done with all those worksheets in no time. The monthly/seasonal prep work and tending list setup only takes a little while on a weekend afternoon. I keep up with the daily habit tracker, which takes no time at all each evening.

Other Goal Setting Planners

Of course, PowerSheets is not the only goal setting planner on the market. There are many others, and more are created each year. Here are a few other goal setting planners available on the market, some right now. Although I have only tried the PowerSheets system by Cultivate What Matters, lots of folks have touted the benefits of these as well:

• The Erin Condren (EC) Petite Goal Setting Planner. This is a neat little, soft-bound planner insert that has about 6 months of goal setting pages and can be purchased for use on its own or as part of the EC On The Go Folio planner system. It is undated, so you can start at any time, and it comes with a set of very cute goal stickers. The planner has a weekly layout along with worksheets to guide you in your goal setting. (For 10% off your first Erin Condren order, use my referral code. )
• The Clever Fox is all about productivity and goal setting. In their Ultimate Achiever’s Goal Planner (#ad) you get 90-day’s worth of goal setting pages with monthly, weekly, and daily spreads in a hard-bound book. Since it only tracks 90 days, you can change up your goals or try a different planner after the three month period is up. It comes with a good number of stickers and in a wide range of colors. There are prep pages, reflection pages, and a wrap up at the end.
• Another well-rated goal planner is the Law of Attraction Planner. Currently in Academic Year format, this planner is dated with monthly and weekly spreads along with plenty of work sheets and lots of stickers. The cover is a vegan “leather” and comes in a variety of colors.

Goal setting is a worthy exercise for every season of life, and I only wish I had started sooner. How do you set goals? Have you tried a planner that works for you? Leave a comment below!

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