How to achieve your goals with a bullet journal

You can’t hit a target you’re not aiming at – it might sound obvious, but we have no doubt you could name myriad people in your life who haven’t articulated their goals. Enter: the bullet journal.

The impact of not articulating your goals might not be obvious on a daily basis, but over time, we can soon see entire years vanish without moving forward.

That’s where journaling can help—and it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Bulleting journaling is a way to work towards your goal without making it feel like hard work.

What is a goals bullet journal?

You might have heard of bullet journaling in recent years. But what exactly is it?

Bullet journaling is a sharper, more creative way to keep track of your goals. All you need is a blank piece of paper, or a handy diary or journal, and you can start one yourself.

More than just a To-Do list, it’s a way to organise and categorise your day-to-day life. It’s a system that helps to crystalise and clarify your specific, measurable long-term goals, and break them down into steps and tasks to follow that help you work towards your bigger goals.

The benefits of goalsetting through journaling

We love journaling, obviously. But there are some specific benefits to goalsetting through journaling that can be really valuable.

Improve your time management

Bullet journaling is designed to save you time, combining multiple planning resources into one simple tool you can take anywhere.

It’s quick and efficient, and fits in with will our always-on lifestyle. A quick glance at your planner can help you organise your daily responsibilities and goals.

Boost your mindfulness

Bullet journaling is also an excellent tool to improve your mindfulness.

You’re focusing on specific goals, which you check in with every day, week, and month. It helps you to identify how you feel about the goals you’ve achieved or you’re working towards.

It’s also a way to visualise your goals. Instead of just writing things down, the more artistically inclined among us may draw or sketch their goals, making it more engaging—even fun.

It’s easy for you to understand

Goalsetting through your journaling makes it easier to understand your goals and ambitions. By writing things down, it helps you to clear out the clutter and focus on what really matters to you.

Particularly with goals bullet journaling, it allows you to focus on the specific goals at hand, limiting distractions and focusing purely on those goals you’ve write.

You can customise your bullet journal so it’s 100% tailored to your specific needs. Something not working for you? Change it. Optimise your goalsetting by breaking your mid-term goals into smaller, manageable chunks. Add in extra tasks to boost your momentum.

A certain colour of pen not working for you? It’s your journal, so you can draw, colour, and decorate it to look exactly how you want it.

Why you should set 90-day goals

When you’re setting your goals, how much time do you give yourself to achieve them?

It’s a matter of working out what’s achievable, and also what’s realistic. But it’s also important to build in a timeframe that actually motivates you along the way.

We recommend setting 90-day goals in your bullet journal.

Why 90 days? Simple:

• It’s a clear, measurable chunk of time.
• It’s far enough away that it gives you the space you need to work towards something and see real change…
• But it’s also close enough that you still stay motivated. You don’t fall into the classic procrastination trap, and convince yourself that you can do things tomorrow, next week, or next month. You’ve only got 90 days to achieve your goal.
• When you set longer goals, your situation can change drastically from when you first set them. By setting 90-day goals, you can use these as short, achievable markers that allow you to work towards a long-term goal, while being able to adjust your sights on the way.

With 90-day goals, it gives you the space to breathe, but also the time to do it right.

Unlike shorter goals, you’ve got a bit more time up your sleeve, leaving you free to work towards other goals at the same time.

You won’t feel constricted focusing on one monolithic thing; you can be productive in more areas of your life.

This may even help you achieve more, as you don’t get as burnt out with a single focus.

How to get started with goalsetting in a bullet journal

Ready to get into it? Here’s how to get started goalsetting in your bullet journal.

Set your goals

The key to setting goals is making them achievable.

But you also need to put enough healthy pressure on yourself that you actually achieve them.

So rather than just focusing on one goal, pick two or three important goals that you really want to achieve.

Create your plan

You can go as detailed or specific in your plan as you like.

Set out each of your big goals, and then map out the actions you need to take, and the tasks you need to complete, in order for you to achieve these goals.

For example, say you want to take up swimming. Your first milestone might be to sign up to use your local pool. Then you’d need to buy bathers. Then your following goal markers would be one lap of the pool, then two, and so on, until you reach your desired distance.

All of these little steps lead you forwards on your path to the big one.

Set regular check-ins

Make sure to set regular time to check in with how you’re feeling, and also check in with how you’re tracking towards your goal.

Set aside regular time at the beginning of each month to identify your focus for that month. Then, set the tasks and actions to help you achieve this.

Perhaps you can’t make it past a certain number of laps. What can you do to break this barrier? It could be things like improving your swimming skills, starting shoulder stretches, or adding some different training exercises to your routine.

Make it weekly, too

You’ll notice a pattern here: it’s all about breaking your goals up into manageable, measurable chunks.

So, map out what you need to achieve every week, in order to work towards your monthly and 90-day goals.

This way you keep a laser focus on those goals, it keeps you motivated, and you can make sure you’re working towards small, incremental change.

Even if you don’t hit every task you wanted to achieve, or every weekly milestone, you’ll still see that you’re putting in the work.

And that’s what bullet journalling is all about: putting a structure in place so you can actually do the work to reach your goal.

Over to you

Once you’ve got that target to aim at, bullet journaling helps you work towards it. You’re moving forward, seeing incremental progress.

Bullet journaling, similar to the Story of My Life Journal, is all about consistency.

By putting in the work to create a clear pathway towards your goal, and then regularly checking in with yourself to make sure you’re working towards it—well, then you’ll actually find yourself making progress.

So, make journaling, whether it’s bullet journaling, using your Story of My Life Journal, or otherwise, part of your daily routine.

Create your own goal target, set your aim… and enjoy the journey.