Are you constantly setting goals you never actually achieve? This free goal journal and a goal planner will help you set and reach your goals and spend your time and energy on what you define as meaningful.
Yearly Goal Planner
This yearly goal planner helps you set yearly goals and monthly goals each month. You set goals in four different areas to ensure you focus on all the important areas in your life and live a balanced life. Once you have set the goals you create action items to achieve them and schedule them in your year planner. At the end of each month and the end of the year, you reflect on your progress. The planner includes one full year and you can start it any month. You can also print one month only if you only want to use it for a month.
Free Printable Goal Journal
We also offer a free 40-page goal journal that will take you through every process step-by-step from setting goals to creating a plan to reach them. It will also help keep you focused and remove distractions during the process.
To set your goals, it is important to ask yourself what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve that. Ask yourself what do you want the outcome to be and why do you want that (i.e. what is the purpose). This will give you the motivation to reach your goals.
Once you have set your goals, you will use the SMART method to fine-tune each goal to increase your chances of success. You will then plan your next actions, track your progress, and learn more about yourself. You will focus on your priorities and what matters to you. All new tasks will be evaluated to ensure they align with your goals and help you avoid distractions. See SMART goals for a detailed explanation.
You will still need to do the work required to succeed, but the planner will help you decide what work needs to be done, and how to prioritize it and it will help you focus on what matters and to ignore distractions.
You will not only reach financial success but also improve relationships, health, and overall well-being. The planner helps you set goals in various fields such as health, fitness, overall well-being, relationships, etc. You select the areas you want to focus on. This is important to achieve all your dreams and ensure you don’t sacrifice your health or relationships in order to reach your goals.
The monthly planner is used to set your due dates for your tasks. Scan your monthly planners ahead of time to ensure that you complete tasks by their due dates.
Each week, print a weekly planner. Scan your monthly planners to migrate tasks from your month planner to your weekly planner as they become relevant. The weekly planner section is used to prioritize your time. Each day, set your top 3 goals or priorities for the day. Try not to work on other things until you complete those goals. It also ensures that you work on your mindset and don’t forget to connect with people and devote some time to gratitude.
The best goal planner is one that can be customized to suit your needs. That is why we have added an option to edit each goal-planning worksheet in the journal.
If you want a shorter version then you might prefer our free printable goal chart.
Don’t wait for life to happen. Make it happen.
Each goal setting template in the journal will help you set your goals and achieve each one. You can set goals for your career, health, fitness, home, financial situation, relationships, and life in general. The goal-setting printables will not just list your goals but help you decide on a strategy of how to accomplish your goals and set milestones to ensure you are on the correct path. Setting goals enables you to plan the life you want and live your life your way.
Please see an explanation below on how to use each page. Click here to customize any bullet journal goals page. You can either print the 40-page journal above or you can download each goal setting worksheet PDF and print them individually.
Goal Setting Template
This goal setting template will take you through each step of the goal setting process until you set the goals that will help you the most. If you don’t want to go through the entire goal setting journal (40 pages) and prefer to simply set goals then see our SMART goal template.
Step 1: What are your issues with your life at the moment?
What are the things that bother you and the things that you would like to change?
This page appears on page 3 of the goal planner above. It includes 7 different areas of your life (family, health, financial, social, education, career, and character).
If you want to focus on different areas, then click on the button above to edit the life goal planner printable. All the text is editable and can be changed to suit your needs. If you decide to change the text, then be sure to change it on all the relevant printables below as well.
Step 2: What is a perfect life in your opinion?
What does a perfect life look like to you? Where do you want to be in 10 years? To be more specific, what do you want to achieve if anything is possible?
Think about what you want from life and what your ideal future would be. You first need to know what you want to achieve before you set out to reach these goals. Set goals for all aspects of your life to ensure a good and balanced life. Remember, you are planning YOUR perfect life so set the goals that YOU want to achieve, not ones that other people might want for you.
These are not necessarily the goals that you want to achieve but your perfect dream life. They do not have to be achievable or realistic. Dream big!
Step 3: Set a Realistic Goal for Each Area
Goals should be realistic but not too easy. For each goal you set, you need to ensure that you are prepared to pay the price. For example, it’s easy to say I want to be thin. However, you have to be prepared to stop eating as much as you want and start doing some exercise. Are you prepared to do this? If so, add your goal to the list. If your goal is to run a marathon, you have to be prepared to train 4 to 6 times a week. At this stage, you are trying to write as many goals as you can. During the next stage, we will check each goal to see if it is something that we really want to achieve.
The ready-made planner does not separate goals into the short, medium, and long term. If you prefer to relate to each period separately, then please replace the worksheet “My Goals” (page 5) with this page.
In this version, you can relate to each issue separately and set goals for the short, medium, and long term. For example, if I want to lose weight, my short-term goal will be to cut out sugar. My medium-term goal will be to lose 20 pounds in 20 weeks. My long-term goal will be to keep the weight off by changing my habits and exercising on a regular basis.
Short, Medium and Long Term Goals
How do long-term goals differ from short-term goals?
The long-term goal is much more difficult to accomplish, but the short-term goals are achievable because they are attainable in a shorter amount of time.
Short-term goals are likely to be completed relatively quickly. They could include milestones along the way to achieving our long-term goal. It’s easier to keep track of the progress of short-term goals and it provides an instant feedback loop.
Long-term goals, on the other hand, take much longer to achieve because they require patience and determination. They require more work upfront, but the payoff is usually greater.
- Short-term goals can be reached within two months.
- Medium-term goals may take from two months to three years to reach.
- Long-term goals require three or more years to reach.
Examples of personal goals
- Family: Do you want to be a better parent?
Do you spend enough time with your family or your partner? How do you get along with your siblings? Do you work on the relationship? - Health: Do you lead a healthy lifestyle? What steps can you take to improve your health and fitness?
- Financial– How much do you want to earn? How and when do you want to reach this goal? How much do you want to save?
- Social – Do you socialize enough? Do you enjoy yourself?
- Education – Do you want to further your education? Is there any knowledge or skills you want to acquire? What skills will you need to have in order to reach your goals?
- Career– What level do you want to reach in your career? What are your goals?
- Character – Do you have any traits you would like to work on? Does your mindset hold you back? Is there anything about your behavior that you think you should improve?
You can edit any of these areas. Here are some more goals that you might want to add instead:
- Home – Do you want to organize your home or make any improvements to it?
- Fitness – Do you have any fitness or athletic goals?
- Artistic– Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
- Pleasure– How do you want to enjoy yourself? Some people don’t take enough time off to enjoy their selves and might need to set goals and slot this time in their planner.
- Public Service– What you would like to do to make the world a better place?
- Relationship Goals: How many new people did you meet this week? For example, focus on introducing yourself to two new people each month for the next 6 months.
Step 4: SMART goal setting worksheet
Prioritize your goals and make each Goal SMART
SMART goal setting will ensure your goals have the best chance of success.
See SMART goals for a detailed explanation of each of the questions.
Step 5: What are the reasons you want to achieve your goals?
There are also six motivational goal quotes throughout the printable planner to keep you motivated.
Step 6: Brainstorming
Step 7: From Goals to Actions to Tasks
During the brainstorming session on the previous page, you thought of 6 ways to accomplish each goal. Choose the top 3 mini goals that are most likely to bring you closer to your goal and move them to this page.
You are much more likely to stick to your goals if you make a specific plan for when, where, and how you will perform the behavior required to achieve your goals.
For each goal, you will set mini-goals and for each mini-goal, you will set action items with due dates.
Step 8: Write all the Due Dates for Tasks in the Monthly Goal Planner
Move all action items and goals to their due date on the monthly goal calendar.
Review all calendars on a regular basis to ensure that you complete all tasks before their due date.
The printable goal journal has six monthly planners. If you need more than six months, then print more copies. If your goals are short term then don’t print all six copies.
The calendar in the ready-made journal is blank and can be used anytime. If you want to make a 2023 goal planner printable then click on the template below and replace the blank calendar with a 2023 calendar.
Step 9: Each Week Use the Weekly Goal Planner
This weekly goal calendar is designed to keep you focused and balanced. It helps you set goals for each day and focus on them however it reminds you to set a few minutes each day for reflection in the morning to set your day and in the evening to focus on your accomplishments and draw conclusions for the future. There is also a small section for gratitude to remind you to spend a moment being grateful. See the benefits of gratitude.
Step 10: Checklist Template to Stay Focused
Step 11: Track your Goals
Measure your goals. Measurement is critical for effective goal setting. When you measure your results, you see whether you are making progress or not. If we don’t measure and track our goals then we will have no idea if we are on track and improving.
Use this goal tracker to see where you stand and how far you are from reaching your goal.
See our free goal tracker printables
Goal Planner Based on the Eat That Frog Method
The Eat That Frog system suggests you choose the goals that will have the biggest impact on your life and then list all action items to achieve these goals.
You focus on the action items that will have the biggest impact or are the most difficult (the frogs) and you eat them first. These are the tasks you usually put off and not those that are easy to complete. This goal-setting journal will take you through each of the steps described in the Eat That Frog book.
It takes dedication and hard work to reach any goal. However, the greater the goal the greater the feeling of accomplishment. Don’t forget to stop and celebrate your victories no matter how small. Never forget how far you have come and how much further you are capable of going. Keep setting goals to reach your full potential.
How to Keep a Goal Journal
The free printable goal setting journal can be used as-is. It will keep a record of the entire process from the goal-setting stage to the stage where you reach your goals. You can also add blank pages at the end of the journal to write about the difficulties you encounter and the mini-goals you reach.
There are detailed instructions on how to use the journal above. Follow each stage as described and you will be reaching your goals in no time!
How to Set Goals
The goal-setting worksheets will take you through each stage required to set goals. You start by listing the issues you have with your life. Then you think about your ideal life. You then set goals.
You will probably list a long list of goals in the previous section and that’s great. However, since your time and attention are limited, you cannot achieve every single goal you listed all at once. You need to organize your priorities. You can achieve some goals together whereas others require you to achieve them one by one. Once you reach one goal, you can start working on the next. In order to do this, we will need to prioritize our goals. That way we can focus first on the goals that we want to achieve right away and then on the other goals.
List your goals in order of importance and urgency. You will still reach all your goals, but you might need to put some on hold until you reach others. Some goals will clearly fit into a certain order. For example, if you want to run a half marathon and a full marathon you can start with a half marathon and postpone your full marathon. Create a list with a small number of really significant goals that you are going to focus on. Once you achieve these goals you will come back to the full list and add more new goals to your list of priorities.
The SMART goal setting stage defines each goal in a way that will ensure its success. You will eventually have a list of goals to set for yourself.
We also offer specific goal tracker templates on this site, such as the 12-week year goal trackers. This system focuses on the implementation of specific goals for a 12-week period. The focus is on doing what needs to be done to reach your goals.
How to Reach Goals
The best way to reach your goals is by hard work and effort. Do the tasks you determined need to be done to reach your goals. However, sometimes you need the confidence to go after your dreams and reach your goals. Repeating positive affirmations can help boost your confidence and help you believe you can reach any goals you set. You can also use an affirmation journal to boost your self-confidence. Setting goals will help you determine where you want to be and how to get there, and the affirmations will ensure that you have the confidence to reach your goals. Repeat positive affirmations that remind you are capable of anything you decide you want to do. If you use affirmations without setting goals, then you will be better equipped to get wherever you are going but you won’t necessarily know where you want to go. Setting goals together with using positive affirmation is the best combination.
When trying to reach your goals, it is important not to focus only on what you want to achieve or get but also on who you need to BE in order to DO what you need to do to HAVE what you want. This is referred to as the Be-Do-Have model.
Reevaluate Your Goals if Necessary
Since our circumstances and priorities in life change over time so do our goals. If necessary, reevaluate your goals and change them according to your new circumstances and priorities. Before you change them, be totally honest with yourself. Have your circumstances really changed or are you giving up on your goals? You know what you need and want, so be flexible if you need to be, but don’t use this as an excuse to go easy on yourself if it isn’t necessary. Reaching your goals is hard work and any goal that is worth achieving will require a lot of effort on your part.
Develop a good system or process
Setting goals is an important step if you want to reach them. You won’t get anywhere if you don’t know where you are going. However, it is not enough. The system we develop to reach our goals is also an important part of the process. Your goal gives you direction, but your system and actions get you where you are going. You need to focus on the things you need to do and improve (action items) and not only on your goals. For this reason, the goal planner includes the action you need to take. This is an integral part of reaching your goals.
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Exactly what i was looking for to organize my goals ! Thank a lot for your hard work Nicole !
You are welcome Petros. I hope you reach all your goals!
OMG! I can’t thank you enough.
I really appreciate all the hard work you have put into this website, you have no idea how much you are helping me right now.
Thank you so much!!!
This is amazing! Trying to teach my floundering young adults how to set goals and reach them and I think this is the trick! It is simple, straight forward and easy to follow. Thanks for doing this!
1st January 2024. I am so happy I came across your blog. You have no idea what you have just done for me
Thank you