Note: If you’re interested in the content matter of this post, then you’ll definitely be interested in our master guide to goal setting. Make sure to check that out to get a full rundown of the entire process, from beginning to end, along with a full list of resources and other guides.

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The Basic Strategy – Find The Planner Or Journal That Works Best For You

Listen, the point of using a planner or a journal isn’t because that specific planner or journal is going to be a magic bullet to success. 

The reason to use a planner or journal is simply so that you have a practical, pragmatic tool that you can use to write down your goals in the manner that works best for you—to facilitate a sustainable goal-setting system in your life that you’ll actually stick with and maintain for the long term.

With that being said, I’ve often said that where you choose to write down your goals isn’t nearly as important as just making sure to write them down on a daily basis. 

In other words, the idea here is pretty simple. 

You just want to find a planner or journal that you really like, that works well for you, that fits in well with your personality type, style, and personal tastes and preferences.

One good rule of thumb to keep in mind is simply this. 

Choose a journal or a planner that you think would be fun to write in every day.

This may sound overly simplistic, but I assure you this is a far more effective strategy for choosing a planner, journal, or goal-setting system than a lot of people give it credit for. 

With that being said, let’s go ahead and talk about some of the upsides and downsides of the specific different types of options at your disposal.

6 Planner, Journal, And/Or Goal Achievement System Options To Consider

1. Start With What You Have

I know very successful people who use expensive, high-performance goal achievement systems and planners to help them meticulously plan out every aspect of their daily lives.

I also know incredibly successful people who have used regular calendar books, lined journals, dotted journals, and notebooks to write down their goals and daily to-do lists.

I’ve known people who’ve used printable sheets, loose pieces of notebook paper, and even napkins or the back side of used envelopes to write down daily goals. 

See, the goal with this part of the process isn’t to choose the perfect planner or to choose the ‘proven’ journal with the ‘best system.’ 

The goal here is to start your daily goal-setting process today, using the best tools at your disposal. 

This could mean grabbing a piece of printer paper and quickly jotting down your daily to-do list items. 

This could mean running to your local retail store, buying a simple composition book, and getting started with that. 

It might mean getting online and ordering a more sophisticated dedicated planner option, like the Full Focus planner or the Self Journal.

But here’s the first and most important thing. 

Just get started with what you have. 

Try not to get hung up on the specific tools you’re using. 

Instead, double down on the importance of writing down your daily to-do list and your long-term goals every single day. 

Then, as you get into this as a daily habit, you can adopt better tools and systems that work better for your personal style and preferences. 

That’s really the whole key to this business of choosing the proper planner, journal, or notebook for your goal-setting process. 

2. Printable Sheets

Printable sheets are useful in the sense that you can find a nearly unlimited number of them available for free online—and as long as you have access to a printer, some paper, and some ink, you can print them out and use them every single day. 

The downside to this is that printing out all these pages every single day can lead to quite a bit of clutter in the long term. 

So if you’re going to go this route, I’d recommend purchasing either a clipboard to store them on or some sort of small filing bin that you can use as a place to store them when you’ve checked all the items off the list.

Alternatively, as you get done with them, you can just throw them away. 

Problem solved!

Need a goal-setting sheet to get started with? Download my weekly goal-setting form, print out a few, and get started right now. 

3. A Regular Lined Notebook

If you’re willing to take a short drive to your local retail store, you can probably pick up a regular lined notebook for less than $2. 

This will provide you with literally weeks of goal-setting power and potential, right at your fingertips. 

This is a very simple tool, but don’t be fooled by its simplicity. 

You can organize your entire life and future with the power of a lined notebook. 

If you want to learn exactly how to do this, check out this guide. 

The downside to lined notebooks is that they can sometimes get a bit boring to look at and write in. 

Sometimes, you may develop your own goal-setting process to the point where you could benefit from having a few additional, more complex tools supplied to you by the system you’re using. 

This is when you’ll want to start looking into more sophisticated options. 

But hey—some people never outgrow a regular lined notebook. Honestly, this is an awesome option for anyone. Even veteran goal-setters with a lot of experience can really make progress with a simple lined notebook and a high-quality pen or pencil. 

4. A Dotted Notebook/Bullet Journal

Dotted notebooks and bullet journals are actually really popular for goal-setting and journaling because they give you so much creative freedom that you can use to free-form your own planner or goal-setting style. 

For example, one of my goal-setting mentees currently uses a dotted notebook for his daily goal-setting habits. 

And all he does with it is this:

He goes line by line, writing down his daily to-do list tasks—and then, he draws a small ‘box’ to the left of each item, using the dotted grid on the paper as a guide, so that he can check the items off as he completes them. 

He also uses a specific type of gel pen for this purpose. He says that gel pens ‘just feel so much better to write with.’ 

And hey—honestly, that does make a difference! 

He says that this makes the process feel more creative and open-ended, and it doesn’t keep him pigeonholed into any particular system. 

Some people enjoy this freedom, while others find that it’s intimidating and doesn’t provide enough structure. 

If you love to draw, write, or style your own journal entries, then a dotted journal can be a perfect framework for using colorful markers, pens, pencils, and other design tools to really help you put your own twist on the process. 

If you’re a creative person and you like that kind of creative freedom, then this may be a fantastic option to try.

5. A Calendar Book

The obvious downside to a calendar book is that once you purchase it, you’re on a timer for the specific timeframe within which that book will be useful to you.

Most calendar books last a full year—so if you take a three-month break from your goal-setting habit and then jump back into it, you’ll have to skip ahead three months and will have basically wasted three months of the pages in the book. 

With that being said, calendar books are amazing tool platforms that empower you to not only set detailed daily task lists, but to also arrange those lists by time and date. 

You can write down appointments in a calendar book, schedule meetings, record work times, etc. 

As far as planning out a meticulous daily to-do list goes, calendar books and appointment books are just a natural extension in utility to give you even more specific tools to help you succeed in this goal-setting process.

6. A Daily, Quarterly, And/Or Yearly Planner

Daily, quarterly, and yearly planners are basically planner books specifically designed to help you write down future goals and organize your daily and weekly task lists to equip you with the tools needed to give you your best odds for achieving those long-term goals. 

There are all kinds of these types of books on the marketplace, ranging from simple to complicated.

Some of my favorite dedicated goal planner systems currently available include options like:

• Full Focus Planners
• The Self Journal
• Franklin Planners
• The Day-Timer Planner

The great thing about these types of planners is that they can be very inspiring and motivating. 

They often give you a complex range of tools that you can use to plot out your goals—and these tools can actually inspire you to push yourself to become even better at goal setting. 

With that being said, for some people, that can be overwhelming. 

In fact, I don’t often recommend that people start out using these types of planners.

You may actually be better off using some simple printable sheets, a regular moleskin journal, or even a dotted notebook when you first get started with goal setting—because sometimes, when you dig deep into these more sophisticated types of planners, they can really make the process feel more complicated and even a bit intimidating.

With that being said—it’s also a good idea to at least check out a few different planner options when you’re deciding on the best system for you, to see if any of them really seem to work well for your particular, preferred goal-setting style. 

If you see one that seems like it might be fun to try, or like it might work well for your own personal style of goal setting, then I would highly recommend that you actually give it a try. 

One thing that’s important to understand about planner systems is that you’ll probably need to try a few before you settle on the one that’s actually right for you.

One of my goal setting mentees has tried out over half a dozen different systems. And he actually switches between systems during different quarters, just to match his preferences to the types of goals he’s setting and the mood he’s in when it comes to goal setting in that particular season. 

However, it’s also important to understand that keeping this process ‘fluid’ and flexible for yourself isn’t a bad thing—as long as you’re sticking with that habit of writing down your goals on a daily basis. 

What About Digital Planners?

Nowadays, everyone has a smartphone or a tablet on them at pretty much all hours of the day. 

There are also plenty of awesome digital planner apps that you can download and use. 

With that being said, I do have a few things to say about the rise of digital planners—and I do have some reservations about them. 

First of all, I don’t believe it’s clear that digital planners offer the same scientifically-proven benefits as analog planners. 

I believe that there’s something important about writing down your goals on an analog surface and using a pen or a pencil to turn your dreams into goals on a real physical piece of paper. 

I’m skeptical about the impact that digital planners could have on your psyche and on your ability to focus on the objectives. 

With that being said, I will also admit that the jury is still out on digital planners. 

They’re a relatively new tool—and if they work for you and facilitate more consistency in your life in regards to writing down your goals on a daily basis, then I would recommend that you use them—because really, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. 

It’s all about writing down your goals every day to help you stay focused on the things that matter the most.

Case in point, if digital planners just work so much better for you that it doesn’t make sense to use anything else, then use them. 

However, I would recommend that you at least try a couple of different analog planners before settling on a digital option—just to see if you can find an analog option that works.

Do I Really Need A Planner?

Here’s the thing. 

You don’t necessarily need a planner, because a planner isn’t a magic bullet for goal-setting success. 

What you do need is a plan and a strategy for consistently writing down your goals in a physical, analog format every single day. 

Whether you use notebook paper, a dotted journal, or a sophisticated goal-setting system like the Full Focus planner—the point isn’t to choose a magic system and trust that system to make you successful.

The goal is to write down your goals every single day. 

And oftentimes, using a planner, journal, or notebook of some kind that inspires you and makes you feel creative is the best way to facilitate this. 

A planner isn’t a necessity.

However, like any other useful tool, it can be incredibly beneficial for helping you to achieve the overall goal. 

You don’t necessarily need a hammer to drive a nail. 

However, having a hammer in your tool pouch definitely gives you an advantage. 

At the very least, having it available will help you to increase your odds of success when the time comes to get to work. 

Should I Get A Daily Or Weekly Planner?

Some people set goals on a daily basis, while others tend to favor setting goals on a weekly basis. 

In some cases, this will mostly depend on what types of goals you have.

For example, if the vast majority of your goals will involve tasks that take place once per week, then setting weekly goals may actually be more beneficial. 

Whereas, if your to-do list consists of a lot of different daily habits—then sticking with a daily goal-setting system is going to work better. 

So really, it all involves looking at how you want to structure your life and your to-do list—and then, finding a system that really complements that process and gives you what you need to succeed.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this post has given you some awesome information about how to choose the perfect planner, journal, or goal-achievement system for you—and hopefully, these tips will help you in your goal-setting journey. 

Of course, at the end of the day, this is just another part of the larger, overarching process of turning your dreams into goals and writing those goals down to create a roadmap for success in your life.

This is how you begin your journey to success and crush it.

Need some help? Download my weekly goal-setting sheet, print out a few, and give it a try.

And don’t forget—you can also sign up for my email list to get a free copy of my Goal Setting Essentials Starter Kit. 

You’ve got this. I believe in you.

Now it’s time to get to work.

Best wishes…

Jay O’Donnell