New Year Plans – My Blog

I read a couple of posts that mentioned that in order for a person to read his/her goals said person must plan out and break down goals (light bulb). Is this one of the most obvious statements ever? Yes, probably. But I’ve never made goals for anything, I’ve never planned really. I’ve made lists, which mostly aren’t completed, and I’ve floated along doing or not-doing (the usual) activities as they came along. So, once college was completed, I had no plan, no steps, no practical knowledge. So I’ve been stuck/wandering in circles aimlessly for a while with plenty of random paths taken. Now, I will never be a one goal, one interest person, but I want to actually do all the activities I talk/dream about, and I really need to become more independent.

While on vacation in early January, I started typing out and organizing my goals. I highly recommend this since you can move everything around and continually add as you think of ideas. I was planning to buy a new bullet journal, and I wanted everything to be sketched out first, so my goals would be neat and organized. I had accumulated a small bookmark folder of New Year type posts as well.

When I got home I ordered the bullet journal, washi tape (12 designs which worked out neatly), page flags, sticky notes, pen holder, and pens. I love the concept of a bullet journal because as I’ve mentioned before I need flexible structure, and regular planners are far to cement structured for me. And that is also why I’ve always opted for a larger bullet journal. I used a (Letter-sized) Moleskine half-heartedly (I didn’t truly utilize it as a planner fully) for two years. This time I bought this Leuchtturm1917 journal in emerald with dotted pages (B5 is very close to our “Letter” just a tad narrower and perhaps a cm taller) and a matching pen holder.

I spent considerably time laying everything out. Its hardly perfect. I forgot to add monthly goals pages, so I have to use the “free pages” for that, and my calendar pages are a little rough, but I’m really happy with the structure. And I can always tweak things. I’ve recently added my book goals (I intentionally left that for a different page because I had so many, but they aren’t important in the way by other goals are, and I didn’t want to distract from those other goals).

I wrote out my word (Bloom) and focus for the year (Discipline and Diligence) on the first place.
I divided my 2018 goals into categories which I color co-ordinated; these took up the next four pages.
I delineated my first quarter goals (again, by category)
I laid out the first quarter months (for each: calendar of month with room for narrow sticky, monthly and Internet brain dump pages, free page, weekly page, habit tracker, weekly goals)
I left a blank set of pages for second quarter goals and laid out second quarter months, and repeated for last two quarters.
At the back of my bullet journal I left two pages for 2018 review.
I’ve since added my book goals (trying to break them down a bit).
I’ve also discovered, like I said that I need to break quarterly goals down into monthly. From there they are either in the habit tracker (things that should be habits/require discipline) or go to weekly and then daily goals (specific, unique goals). Although if they fall in the latter category, I’m more likely to wing it.

I’m going to do a separate post of my yearly goals, and I’m hoping to post my quarterly goals and monthly goals as appropriate. I’ve read bloggers who grade their monthly goals according to a letter system, and I find this a far more helpful system that did or did not because it shows how a person made progress even if the person didn’t complete everything. Again, not everything is set in stone (especially for some of the long term goals) because I’m learning new things and doors open and shut. And full disclosure, I didn’t accomplish much (in proportion to the time available to me) in January. But I’m trying to be growth minded; previously, I would think, “Well, then I’m done, I blew it,” instead of looking at the positive. I have too much of an all or nothing mindset which for me is usually nothing.

Anyway, here are some iPhone photos of my bullet journal: