The Ultimate Guide To Setting Goals In Your Bullet Journal

Last Updated on February 19, 2022 by Keri

Are you eager to set goals, but don’t know where to start? Are you setting goals, but never seeing any real results? I think everyone who has ever set goals has felt defeated by the daunting process of setting goals. Where do you even begin?

In this post, I am going to show you the method I am using in 2019 to set goals in my Bullet Journal! We are going to create spreads dedicated to each specific goal, and then learn how to tie them into other layouts and collections you may already be using! All of the layouts are very minimal and take little time to set up. This provides you more time to focus on the process of setting your goals!

Setting Goals Using The RPM Goal Setting Method

You may or may not be familiar with the RPM Goal setting method. It was created by Tony Robbins and stands for Rapid Planning Method. Broken down, it stands for;

Results-Oriented

Purpose-Driven

Massive Action Plan

This method will help you discover your goals, and define the steps you are going to take to achieve them! I chose to use this method in 2019 instead of the SMART Goal setting method because I think there is a lot of value in creating an action plan. If you wish to use the SMART Goal setting method, you can easily modify these spreads to work with that method.

Now, let’s take a look at how you will set goals using the RPM method. Please note that this is a very basic breakdown of this goal-setting method. To learn more about the RPM method, I highly suggest you read this workbook from Tony Robbins himself. It is a very quick and easy read, but provides a lot of valuable information!

Results-Oriented

When creating goals, you need to be extremely specific! You should have the exact desired result written down here. I am going to use one of my big goals of the year as an example.

A vague goal would be;

• I want to get out of debt by the end of the year.

A specific goal would be:

• We will pay off $10,000 of credit card debt by December 31st, 2019.

Now, take a look at the differences between these two goals. I hope this will provide some clarity on what a results-oriented goal should contain!

• The verbiage I chose in the first goal (specifically, “I want”) implies that this is something I want, but have not put a lot of thought into. Many studies have shown that your choice of language has a big impact on your outlook on the topic. Saying “I will” shows passion and commitment to the goal. Reading “I will” versus “I want” conveys two very different feelings towards that goal.
• The first goal states debt but does not specifically say what kind of debt. Is this student loans, a line of credit? Again, be specific!
• In the second goal, I stated a specific amount. That has made this goal measurable.
• In the second goal, I gave a specific date, versus the first goal that just says “by the end of the year”. What year? This is not specific enough.

Purpose Driven

It is extremely important to know your WHY. What makes this goal so important to you? Having a clear picture of your why builds a commitment to completing your goal!

Going back to the example of paying off $10,000 of credit card debt by December 31st, 2019, let’s look at some examples of why someone would want to achieve this particular goal.

• I wish to live a life with no credit card debt.
• Develop smart money spending habits.
• Get ahead financially, so that we can begin to work towards other goals like traveling or buying our first house.

When determining the why, make sure to be very honest with yourself. If you are digging into the why, and deciding it is not as important as you originally thought, you may wish to push it aside until a later date, or rework the goal so that it is more important to you.

Massive Action Plan

This is the MOST important part of setting goals!

I know when I hear “action plan”, I cringe a little bit. It takes me back to my retail management days. However, it is important to understand why you need an action plan. Your action plan should include;

• Resources needed
• Tasks that need to be completed
• Time frames for the different tasks
• How will you measure/hold yourself accountable to your results

Your action plan for each goal will look extremely different. Some may require more resources. Some may require teamwork, while others may be something you are doing on your own. When making your action plan, be sure to set reasonable expectations, and be honest with yourself! This process may take time initially but will save time down the road. You won’t need to sit down every month or every week and decide what your next step is. You will already have everything laid out, so all you have to do is execute, execute and execute again until you have accomplished your goal!

Now that you have a basic understanding of the RPM goal setting method, we are going to begin setting up our goals in our Bullet Journals!

Goal Setting Spread

We are going to start by setting up our goal overview spread! This page is extremely simple and easy to set up. Personally, I like to focus on the goal-setting process above decorating, but you can definitely add decoration to this page if you wish! I know plenty of people who might be more motivated to look back to this page if it is pretty.

Start by creating a basic header for the page. This could be just the word goal, or perhaps the date you are writing this out.

Next, you are going to break your goal down by utilizing the RPM goal-setting method. When I create this spread, I go in order of the acronym. Starting at the R, write out your results-oriented goal. Next, you will define the purpose of this goal. Finally, you will set your massive action plan.

Now that you have defined your goals, the purpose behind it, you may find you need to break down your action plan into smaller, more manageable tasks. This may not be a necessary step for every goal you make, but I would highly recommend it for goals that have a lot of different elements or layers to it. I took this step for one of my four goals this year.

Further Developing Your Massive Action Plan

This spread is probably my favorite goal-setting spread this year! The main purpose of this spread is to take one of the mini-goals from your Massive Action Plan and break it down even further. This is very effective for goals that have a lot of different layers to them. This could also be extremely useful for goals that don’t have an immediate deadline. Perhaps you have given yourself five years to accomplish this goal. To ensure you are constantly working towards it, you could create one of these spreads for the tasks you need to complete every three months, six months, etc.

Start by writing out your mini goal at the top of the page. I wanted to put mine into a box, the width of the page, but this step is completely optional!

Next, I drew out three small boxes under the mini-goal box. I like to break all of my mini goals up into three manageable tasks. This gets you started without feeling overwhelmed. I would highly recommend you do the same. Tackle these first three items, and then you can come back, and add three more once you have accomplished the first three!

Below the boxes, write out the specifics of how you are going to accomplish that task. What resources are you going to use? Do you have any timelines?

Next, I like to remind myself of the purpose behind this goal. This is also a great time to think about any roadblocks that may prohibit you from completing a task. If you are prepared for the roadblocks, the easier it will be for you to move past them!

Incorporating Your Action Plan Into Your Monthly, Weekly and Daily Spreads

Now that you have taken all the steps to create a solid action plan, it is important that you actually block out the time to do these tasks! I recommend doing this on your monthly, weekly or daily spreads. Find a place in your existing spreads where you can write out the tasks you need to accomplish your mini-goals.

Personally, I am currently using monthly and daily spreads only. How I have incorporated my action plan is by creating a spot on my monthly layout for goals. Here, I create a checklist of the tasks that I need to complete this month. Beside each task, I will write the page number where I can find more details about this action plan. This keeps my monthly spread clutter-free. Then, when I am creating my dailies, I will refer back to my monthly, and work my way down the list of those tasks until I have completed everything!

Utilizing a Habit Tracker

You will find this spread especially useful if your goal requires you to develop certain habits! Let’s say you want to run a marathon in six months. In order to train for that, you would have to run every day for a certain distance. You could set up a distance ran tracker, and fill it in every day after you go for your run. Let’s say you want to save money to pay off your debt, so you decide to do a no-spend challenge. You could add a column to your habit tracker, and mark off every day that you do not spend any money.

If you want to learn an easy way to create a tracker, check out my minimalist tracker setup!

Habit trackers are great tools to utilize with goal setting! They will give you a snapshot of how you are doing and will hold you accountable. Personally, I find great joy in ticking off the boxes every time I accomplish something. This, in turn, motivates me to actually do that thing!

Utilizing A Daily Routine

I know your day is busy. You have work, kids, dinner to make, a house to tend to. The list goes on and on. However, it is vital that we block-out time to work on our goals. If you do not make the time, you will never get to achieve your goals. This may be a hard truth to face, however, you need to be realistic.

To organize your time, I highly suggest you set up a daily routine. I can hear the groans now. No one likes to follow a routine. However, routines have proven to be very successful at helping people accomplish everything they want to in a day.

Let’s say you have three goals you want to accomplish this month, and each requires 45 minutes of your time per day. You need to sit down and determine where in your day you have those 45 minute time windows. Start by determining what times of the day are set for other tasks. Maybe you have work or volunteer at a certain time every day. Make sure to also block out the time you would need to cook dinner, or hit the gym. Once you have determined what time blocks you actually have available during the day to work on those goals, you can begin to schedule them in.

If you find out you do not have enough time in the day, you may need to rethink the time frame you set for a certain goal. Perhaps you can only set out thirty minutes a day for exercise instead of the forty-five you originally allotted, then you may need to change the time frame tied to your goal. Instead of your goal being, I will lose 10 pounds in 5 weeks, it becomes, I will lose 10 pounds in 7 weeks.

By utilizing this type of spread, you will quickly become aware if you can actually accomplish everything you want. This will prevent exhaustion and the potential feeling of defeat when you aren’t accomplishing everything you set out to do.

Create A Collection For Your Goal

Let’s say your goal is to cook dinner for your family every night. For some, this is a HUGE goal. When life gets busy, it is so easy to eat on the go or grab dinner from McDonald’s on the way home. I know, I have been there many times before! In order to accomplish this goal, you may want to determine some of the roadblocks that might make achieving your goal more complicated. For this example, it could be a lack of food in the house or no idea what to cook. Creating a collection with a variety of spreads could really help you in a moment of need!

Going back to the example of cooking dinner for your family every night, you could create a list of your families favorite 30-minute meals, start meal planning, and make shopping lists. This way, you will never have to worry about not having the stuff you need in the house to make dinner. I have even found it useful to have an inventory of what is in my fridge, freezer, and pantry.

By providing yourself all the tools you will need, you are creating a path for success. If you can predict what roadblocks you may hit, and plan for them, you will be even more successful. Collections will come in very handy for this type of goal planning!

Create a Reflection Spread

Equally important to setting goals, and completing the tasks is your reflection. I find it very beneficial in my current planning routine to sit down once a month, and really reflect on my accomplishments and shortfalls. This spread is almost treated like a brain dump, and may not look very pretty. I am such a scatterbrain, which usually means my reflections are scattered to! That is okay! This is a time for you to sit down and be brutally honest with yourself. What worked, What didn’t work? Can you add more to your plate, or do you need to cut back on a few things?

I have had months where I set a goal for myself, and I don’t take any steps towards accomplishing it. So, I strike it out. This may be hard for you to do, but if you don’t have time then you don’t have time. You can always come back to it later. But don’t spread yourself too thin!

I have also had months where I accomplish a big goal, and my reflection ends up being a celebration of my accomplishment! I don’t even think about the other goals I had set for the month. It is important to celebrate your accomplishments, so create a fun place for you to be able to do that. By adding it to my Bullet Journal, I can flip back to it when I need a dose of inspiration!

Next Steps

Now that you know how to set goals in your Bullet Journal, it is time for you to go and take action! The process does not need to take long, so block out some time for yourself, grab your Bullet Journal, a pen, a cozy blanket and a tea, and get to it!

Of course, if you have any questions, please leave a comment below. If you want to share your goals, I would absolutely love to hear them!

Until next time!