We’re all familiar (and possibly fed up) with the phrase ‘new year, new you’ – but we happen to think you’re perfectly fine just the way you are! Having said that, we’re all for putting time into things you’re passionate about or that make you feel good through positive goal setting.
This year we’re focusing on setting achievable goals, no matter how big or small, and fulfilling them at our own pace. You’d be amazed at how much of an impact framing things positively and being kind to yourself can have. We’re not giving things up, but we are going to do more of what’s working and reduce what’s not.
So, how to practise positive goal setting?
Goal setting inspiration
‘A little progress each day adds up to big results.’
To help you (and ourselves!) get started and inspire your positive goal setting, we’ve rounded up a selection of our favourite creative journal spreads using one of our Agenzio notebooks. Don’t worry if you’re new to journaling – there’s no right or wrong way to do it, and you can find a style that’s suited to you and your goals by experimenting.
Goal tracker
Try tracking your goals for 300 days. We counted out 300 squares using the rainbow as a guide for the shape – you might have to add a few boxes here and there to make up the numbers. Start by drawing around the edge of your 300 boxes with a sharp pencil, pressing lightly.
Next, grab your ruler and fine liner and draw all the vertical rows. To make sure you don’t smudge your lines, leave your ruler on the paper for a couple of seconds before moving on to the next line.
Once you’ve completed all of your vertical lines, you can work on the horizontal ones in the same way. It’s easier to go from top to bottom. Finally, when all of the internal lines are done, go over the pencil line around the edge with the fine liner.
Your spread is now ready to use! Read on to find out how to colour code your goals and track your progress.
We used one of our dotted notebooks for this spread – shop our whole Agenzio notebook collection here.
Goal breakdown
We added a paper rainbow to the other side of the spread to make a door, and on the page underneath we wrote down different ways to work towards achieving our goal. For example, if you want to make some healthier habits, the steps could be to swap one coffee a day for a drink of water; do a form of exercise three times a week; eat your five a day; bring a packed lunch to work; try a new recipe every week and so on.
Assign a colour of the rainbow to each step and fill in the corresponding square each time you fulfil a task. As your progress builds, so should your very own rainbow!
Goal categories
Another way to set positive intentions and identify any goals you want to achieve is to create a spread broken down into categories. For ours we chose family, work, friends, home, adventure, hobbies and health, however, you can do less, or pick different priorities. This is a great method for cultivating balance in your life and making sure you’re not neglecting anything or anyone.
Even if you only achieve one in each category, that’s seven achievements in a year – not bad! Your goal setting could be as simple as aiming to see your family at least once a month or spending more time with friends who don’t live close by. If you’re thinking about what you’d like to achieve at work, why not be ambitious and set your sights on a pay rise? Just writing your goals down and reading them each day is often enough to motivate you to make those positive changes happen.
And remember – it’s about progress, not perfection!
