That is why it is super important that you have a good idea of what you want to achieve this year and beyond before starting to map everything out in detail.
In this post, I am going to show you how you can plan out your goals and resolutions this year with the help of a goal planner. Let’s do it!
How to plan out your goals + resolutions for this year!
Before diving straight into goal mapping, you need to have the following in place:
- A goal vision. Having a clear vision of what you want to achieve will help you to understand your goals better.
- Resolutions. It’s so funny when people get into that all-time-cliche mood of “new year, new me”, but honestly, having resolutions for the year will help you with your goal setting greatly.
- The right mindset because goal setting and achievement need to be taken seriously. You can’t have a negative mindset when trying to achieve something great.
- A rewards system. Big goals take time and many people give up when it seems like they aren’t within reach of their goal anytime soon. Reward yourself for achieving your big goal in small steps.
Aim to have a goal planner in place that contains all the sheets you need to plan your goals and resolutions. You can use the one I have created – plus it’s fully editable in the free version of Canva!
The goal planner templates for Canva include a goal tracker, checklist, daily planner, and more! This goal setting template bundle will help you formulate your ideal goal sheet, and help you to achieve your goals!
Manage your year, vision, and dreams with a goal planner
Having a goal planner in place means that you can plan out your long, and short-term goals plus have a way of checking back and measuring your progress.
You can use the following list as a guideline of what to include in your goal planner binder. The editable goal planner template also has all of these sheets included, which means you can save time by using the designs already provided if you want:
1. Daily Planner
As they say, a goal is nothing without a plan. And planning your day out in full detail is one more step towards achieving your goals.
2. Daily productivity sheet
If a general daily docket or daily planner sheet works for you, fantastic! However, getting things done borders on how productive you really are, that is why it’s important for many of us to plan out our day and also track productivity – that’s why I have also included this sheet in my own goal planner…
3. Weekly goal planner
Similar to planning out your day, you should also plan out your week according to your goals and how you want to achieve them. Small steps does it, and this will also help you to form effective habits.
Tip: Avoid planning out your weeks too far ahead. Take it one week at a time and see how it goes.
4. Weekly priorities sheet
We all have so many things that need to get done, but some are more important than others. This is where a weekly priorities sheet will come in handy.
The goal planner templates for Canva include a goal tracker, checklist, daily planner, and more! This goal setting template bundle will help you formulate your ideal goal sheet, and help you to achieve your goals!
5. Weekly productivity sheet
Just like the daily productivity sheet, a weekly one will help you to stay focused and get things done! Keep track of your progress with this sheet so that it also gives you insight into how long it normally takes you to finish tasks.
6. Monthly goal planner
Setting out your monthly goals will help you with planning your weeks and days ahead.
7. Monthly reflection sheet
One of the most important sheets I swear by is a reflection sheet. If you don’t reflect on your goals (what others would also refer to as “measuring”), how will you know if you’re actually making progress?
I have added a reflection sheet to the goal planner, and basically, it contains space for a maximum of 10 goals and sections for “goals reached vs not reached”. You can then fill in the blanks further by answering questions like “what can I do to reach more goals?” and setting next month’s 10 goals ahead…
8. 3 Month review sheet
The 3-month review sheet is similar to the reflection sheet mentioned at #7, only with this sheet do you get to reflect on the past 3 months’ goals and set the next 3 months’.
9. Yearly goals
With a yearly/annual goals sheet, you can plan out your top 5 goals to achieve this year. Mention how you will achieve these goals as well so that you have an action plan.
10. Habit tracker
A good habit tracker goes a long way. Tracking habits that will help you to make progress with your goals are super important here, so make sure to include a habit tracker sheet in your goal planner.
11. Year at a glance
If you want, you can also track your entire year with a “year at a glance” sheet. It’s also useful if your want to keep track of things like productivity and progress.
12. 7 Step goal planner
A unique way to achieve your goals is to break a big goal down into 7-steps. You can then take note of a due date for each, which makes it easier to get things done.
Tip: Setting too many goals, even if you break them down into smaller steps, will result in you becoming more overwhelmed. Make sure that your mini-goals or “steps” aren’t too many to handle in the long run.
13. Resolutions
I mentioned in this post how resolutions can form the foundation of your goal setting for the year, and it’s so very true! Planning on being more fit? Set goals for that resolution… You get the idea.
14. 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year plans
Long-term goals are ultimately what determines our short-term goals. I have added categories to the 1, 5, and ten-year plans such as:
- family and friends
- relationship/love
- self-development
- career/education
- health and fitness
- finances
- spirituality
- fun and recreation/joy
- charity
- environment
Different design styles of these sheets are available in the 2023 life planner as well…
15. Project planner
Goals and projects go hand in hand so it’s only natural that you include a good project planning sheet in your goal planner, too. Make sure you have space for the parts of the project as well as due dates to keep track.
16. Pomodoro worksheet
The Pomodoro technique is a great way to be productive when working on certain tasks that form part of a larger project or goal.
How the Pomodoro technique works:
- Decide on a task you want to complete
- Set your timer to 25 minutes
- Work on your task until the timer rings
- After the timer rings, make a checkmark on a piece of paper
- After every checkmark take a 3-5 minute break
- After every 4th checkmark, take a 15-30 minute break
Fun Fact: The Pomodoro technique was invented by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. The timer he used was a traditional tomato-shaped kitchen timer. The word ‘tomato‘ translates to ‘pomodoro‘ in Italian.
17. Brainstorm sheet
Nothing like a good brainstorm session to get out all your ideas on paper! From here, it’s easier to make plans for your ideas, thus goal setting also becomes a bit easier…
18. Calendars
Calendars are essential to all planners, no matter what purpose they serve. So, when it comes to your goal planner, you’ll also need calendars to make sure your due dates match the time you have to complete tasks.
I have added a few blank calendars to the goal planner templates, which makes it easier to just fill in when the time comes. Obviously, if you want dated calendars, the 2023 Life Planner will help you out with that (as well as upcoming 2023 Life Planners).
19. Weekly planner layouts
Similar to having blank calendars, blank weekly layouts where you can see the entire week across two sheets and fill it in accordingly will also become quite effective in your goal planning session.
Additional sheets you can include in your goal planner
Sometimes you’ll want to add a little extra to your planner binders. This can be because you want a clear vision of your goals, or simply because you want to add more details regarding your goals.
Some of the extra sheets you can include in your goal planner are listed down below, but you can also find the editable templates for these as part of the 2023 Life Planner.
Agenda sheets
These will include pages for daily, weekly, monthly, and annual planning, which will help you with creating timelines for your goals.
Personal sheets
Goal trackers and worksheets are all very personal when it comes to planning, but in addition to this, you also want to create worksheets for your resolutions, level 10 life, priorities, and more.
Financial sheets
Financial goals form part of most people’s aspirations. Here you can add sheets that focus on your savings, financial goals, sinking funds, and so on.
The goal planner templates for Canva include a goal tracker, checklist, daily planner, and more! This goal setting template bundle will help you formulate your ideal goal sheet, and help you to achieve your goals!
