HOW TO JOURNAL YOUR GOALS

Everyone is making goals these days, or asking about goals, or scrolling through goals on social media.  It’s hard not to compare yourself and your life with people you know and don’t know. Relationship goals, food goals, fitness goals, spiritual goals, career goals… it almost feels like goals are just designed to make you feel like nothing in your life is really good enough. We think that part of the problem is about how we think about our goals. 

There are two types of goals we want to talk about: process goals and outcome goals.

Outcome goals: the desire to pursue a goal only to achieve a result (usually fueled by bravado and hope).

Process goals: a prescribed set of things to do to achieve a certain outcome.

As you can see, an outcome goal is focused on the final result, while a process goal recognizes that the final result takes time to achieve and learns to enjoy the small set of actions that leads to outcome. Instead of scrolling through instagram or seeing a girlfriend and thinking I want that, I want to be like that, I want to do that, you can learn to think through and look forward to the steps that it takes to reach whatever “that” is. 

To journal:

First, write down the thing you are working to achieve. It could be something like this:

-I am going to get a promotion by January 2020.

-I am going to lose 10 pounds by the fall.

-I am going to have an open, honest, and fun relationship with my partner.

Above are all outcome goals. Remind yourself every day of your long term result; but, most of your journaling will be for process goals. Here are what your process goals could look like to gain a promotion:

1. I will update my boss on my weekly progress.

2. I will offer to help my coworkers or boss on things outside of my job description.

3. I will meet my bonus for the year.

4. I will have the courage to start a conversation on why I deserve a promotion.

5. I will enjoy what I do and find things to be grateful for in my job.

Here are what your process goals could look like to lose 10 pounds:

1. I will research what kind of foods I need to be eating so I can be sure I am not following just another fad.

2. I will make sure that I have the right kinds of food accessible to me every week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner so that I don’t eat out as much.

3. I will limit eating out to X times a week.

4. I will workout at least 10 minutes a day during X time. 

5. I will pursue an overall healthy and holistic lifestyle and recognize that every body is different. 

Here is what your process goals could look like to have a better relationship with your partner:

1. I will have a quality block of time spent with my partner at least once a week.

2. During busy days, I will be intentional about communicating through text, call, or mail.

3. I will figure out my partner’s love language and be intentional about loving them the way that they feel loved.

4. I will not use/bring my phone with me when I am spending time with my partner.

If you notice… your process goals are specific and attainable. They give you an actual plan, process, and schedule to meet your long term goal. If you are writing these things down, you can see what works and what doesn’t work and tweak it the way you want. Once you figure out the process to reach your goals, we think that bullet journaling is the way to go. Bullet journaling is basically writing out each process goal each month and filling in each week or day that you did it. At the end of the month you will have a great visual to see what you are doing a good job with and what you need to work on.  

Write in the comments what your goals are, and we’ll respond by giving you a few actionable “process goals” to help you out.