SET-UP
To begin, separate your page into two sections. I’m using a journal, but you can also you just a sheet of paper or a word document. The first section will be our “Where I Want to Be” section, and the second will be our “How I’m Going to Get There”. Then, divide each section into as many smaller sub-sections as you would like (I’m using four per section). Each sub-section will be dedicated to a different area of your life, so make as many sub-sections as different areas you want to focus on. Once you have your layout set up, you can start filling in the title of each section and sub-section. Here, I’ve written, “Where I Want to Be” and “How I’m Going to Get There”, as well as labeled the sub-sections “school,” “work,” “personal,” and “social.”
WHERE I WANT TO BE
Take a moment to think about some goals you would like to accomplish in each area you’ve identified. These goals can be as long-term or short-term as you would like, but I find it most helpful to envision things that I wish I was already accomplishing rather than things I would like to accomplish “one day.” You can come up with some goals and then write them under their corresponding sub-section, or you can go sub-section by sub-section and think about each area of life and what goals you want to accomplish in each (which is what I did). Make sure to only identify a reasonable number of goals, as making too many goals can result in you feeling overwhelmed and discouraged from achieving them. Once you’ve written down your “Where I Want to Be” goals, we can move on to “How I’m Going to Get There.”
HOW I’M GOING TO GET THERE
In this section, we will be coming up with concrete steps that can be taken to achieve these goals. General goals such as “workout more” or “read more” are typically difficult to achieve because they rely on willpower to somehow make them happen, rather than an easy-to-follow action plan. So here, go back over the goals you have written in your “Where I Want to Be Section”. For each goal you’ve listed, write a plan of how you will achieve it in the same corresponding sub-section, but in the “How I’m Going to Get There” section. For me, my goal to do more physical activity became a goal to go to the gym three times a week; my goal to practice more piano became a goal to practice piano every other day. After you’ve turned your general goals into manageable actions, all you have to do is do your best to perform these actions, and you will be well on your way to achieving your goals.
FINISHING TOUCHES
Now that you have completed both your “Where I Want to Be” and “How I’m Going to Get There” sections, do whatever you need to do to personalize it. This can be decorating it, putting it somewhere you know you’ll see it, adding your action plans into a habit-tracker, or anything that will make it work for you!
