SMART goals with the LT1917 2020 Planner

This blog post will teach you how to use your Leuchtturm1917 Planner to achieve the goals you want to, so you never miss out on fulfilling a New Year Resolution!

We will be using the idea of SMART goals.

What are SMART goals?

SMART goals are:

Specific: It should be very precise. Clear and not vague! If it is something you’re ‘iffy’ about or you think it’s kind of here and not there, it’s not specific ENOUGH. Everyone needs a focus for your goal(s).
Measurable: It needs to be countable – or quantifiable. In 3 years time, I want to achieve this amount of savings, or I want to be able to learn X number of skills.
Achievable: You must be able to reach it. If a goal is impossible it does not make sense to put it down not because setting that goal and not being able to reach it having given all you’ve got makes one down and out.
Realistic: It must reach, and must be relevant to your life purpose. If you’re setting a goal that does not fit with your current life situation and if you are in a position where you cannot possibly achieve it, think again!
Timely: When goals are realistic and specific, they are also time oriented goals, because time oriented goals create urgency. If there isn’t urgency we get procrastination 🙂

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about planning and SMART goals. First, get a planner – for the purposes of this task we use the Leuchtturm1917 Planner for 2020, it never hurts to start early.

S is for SPECIFIC.

Specific goals make you get to the bottom of things to have a special focus. It can work well for micro-decisions that are part of a larger one. For example later on when we talk about ‘Realistic’ goals, one of them is buying a house, let’s say. So a specific goal is when you set a target that you want to be able to finish this deposit payment (which is part of the many other goals you need to accomplish to get that house.

Spread plan: draw a notebook! Ask yourself the 5 ‘W’ questions. For us, we want to host a workshop for TN Journaling

Who is involved in this goal? List the people you need to contact, or to plan the event. Write down the number of students you are planning to have at the workshop.

What is your objective for the event? Put your lesson objective here.
(Another linked question will be Why do I want to achieve this goal?)

Where is this goal achieved? It could be a place or a destination you want to visit.

When do I want to achieve this goal? You can put the time and date of your event, or brainstorm the timing and change it as you plan the event. You can also think about a short timeline you need to plan to work toward the goal.

M is for MEASURABLE

Some goals are less quantifiable than others, but to make a goal really something that you are accountable for to yourself and others, it is good to make it quantifiable. Defining your goals clearly also helps you to mark the little milestones of it which make you able to feel better when you’ve accomplished the small steps.

For the purposes of this spread, we will be planning for a marathon at the end of May 2020.

The Leuchtturm1917 planner for 2020 features two spreads (4 pages) worth of yearly planners from January to December where you can write one line a day to plan for the year. You can use this for this goal planning spread!

So here are some steps:

make a calendar monthly spread for when do you want to train (not pictured here but you can do so if you like)

break it down into your weekly routine

Every week we want to run a little more, so there is a slight increase starting from 2.4km we will hit 20km at the end.

At the same time, we’ll work in other fitness side activities like cardio and weights.

This is how it all adds up and looks!

Side note: if you feel like this is too restrictive, this spread can be also easily replicated in the Leuchtturm1917 Bullet Journal

A is for ACHIEVABLE/ATTAINABLE

This means that you must consider and weigh the effort, time and other costs your goal will take against the profits and the other obligations and priorities you have in life.

If you do not have the resources, can you get them? There is nothing wrong with choosing to aim for the impossible but if you aim for it, be sure to be able to find the ability and motivation to reach them. If they are too impossible (given the current situation) then you would only drive yourself mad trying to do something that you cannot achieve and it would result in a very uncomfortable sad time which is also demotivating.

Protip:

One pro-tip is to look for similar people in the field who are looking to or have accomplished what you are looking to accomplish and then learn from them how they have done it and how they have planned.

A few examples of these goals that you can plan for are: applying for jobs, level 10 life, save up for a house, quitting a bad habit like smoking, growing good habits like sleeping more, eating healthier, etc

R is for REALISTIC

Can you achieve it without it sounding almost impossible? Can you pay off that loan in under 4 years with that particular level of income? For example if you’re a small business owner or have your side hustle, or you’d like to set targets for yourself that is within your current capabilities!

Spread ideas for this goal:

Long term goals:

Buying a new house
Paying off a loan.
Reaching 1000 new clients

Short term goals:

Burn X amount of calories this week
Save X amount of money this week
Pay off $1000 in debt this month

These are more long term goals, however, the Leuchtturm1917 2020 Planner allows you to plan weekly on half the page (summary of weekly events) and use the ruled page on the right side to write notes. Detail as much of your goal as much as possible so you can ensure it is possible to keep it up all week.

For the purposes of this goal we will plan to save $350 this week.

To do that, use the Leuchtturm1917 Planner which has a weekly planning area (on the left side) and a ruled page on the right side.
This is the planner that can be used to plan finances and spending habits which helps cultivate good habits and a more intentional life.

You can write down what you eat or do as far as you can. This helps you evaluate your choices to see how you can save money and make choices that are more affordable. This doesn’t mean that you cut out spending money altogether, it just gives you a choice to be more prudent about expenditure.

This is a realistic goal because your spending and budget has to match your daily needs.

It is important to plan for realistic goals both in terms of the capability and time you have.

With 24 hours in a day as there is only so much one can accomplish. Doing this means you become more targeted more focused and you stop procrastinating, increasing your productivity. Which leads me to the last alphabet: TIMELY.

T is for TIMELY

Timely goals allow you to set an end point so you know when you need to hand in something by or how long it would take you to reach the goal. It sometimes forces you to have a practical endpoint which prevents ‘abstract’ dreamy ideals and makes you also then list down what you need to do in the shorter timeframes to reach the long term goal.

The time period can be as short as a day or as long as 5-10 years, or even longer, depending on what you want to achieve.

Spread ideas for this goal: Anything that is time sensitive AND probably would have an end goal or a destination or deadline.

Applying for a job
Planning for a final exam
Writing your university thesis/dissertation
Training for a marathon
Get married in 5 years, etc

You want to always ask yourself

Does my goal have a deadline?
When do you want or need to achieve your goal by?
What are the deadlines you need to meet and by when must you get to them

Little milestones can help you reach your goal on time!

We hope that this gives you some ideas as to how to use your Leuchtturm1917 Planner for 2020. Here’s to living more mindfully, intentionally and productively.