R ead any motivational book and it will tell you that you MUST write down your goals if you want them to be effective. I’ve read so many of those books…but have I written down my goals and tracked them? Nope, not in a long time.

This had to change. A couple days ago, I pulled out my post-its and rapidly started writing down my vision for this upcoming year. Post-its were ideal because I was able to color code.

Then I began to line them up according to month. January got the top row, February the second row and so on. I felt like a goal-setting MACHINE.

Then came the challenge of transferring these onto some type of tracker.

I was inspired by a goal tracking system that Elise Blaha came up with. You can see her creation below. (You can also get a PDF of it here if it inspires you!)

While I love the singularity of focus with her tracker, I have a number of habits that I want to solidify – and I also wanted a place to write down my goals (in this case, resolutions and habits = ongoing, while goals = finite project). Here were my requirements for my tracker:

1) All resolutions and goals are in one place.
2) Tracker is broken into three sections: Daily Habits/Resolutions, Creative Goals, and Life Goals.
3) Incorporate a way to track progress of resolutions and completion of goals.
4) Must be beautiful to look at so I can post it somewhere and be inspired.

Requirement number 4 had me immediately thumbing through my stack of Martha Stewart magazines and Anthropologie catalogs (I’m telling you, those things are so multi-purpose and like oxygen to me).

I pulled out 12 beautiful images, one for each month, and sorted them according to which month they fit best. Then I pulled out my calligraphy book and did some lettering across the top of each image, writing the month big and bold.

I wanted a splash of color across the month, so the former 1st grade teacher in me rejoiced as I grabbed some tempera paints and added a streak of color across each month. Seriously, those paints are as good for six year-olds as they are for adults.

The second those colors went on the images, I knew it was the right choice.

After the paint had dried, I got down to the business of writing out my resolutions and goals onto each month. Here is what January looks like: 

I only got through April because A) drawing all those little circles started to make my wrist hurt and there is NO WAY I’m going back to physical therapy for an extreme crafting injury and B) I’m going to continue to add new goals as the year progresses. I know what I want to accomplish for these first few months of the year, but plan to let that list grow and mature as I move throughout the year – so I’ll add them as I get closer to that actual month.

I’ve posted the January image on our bathroom mirror along with a permanent marker hanging by it (to fill in those little circles or triangles every day that I stick to my resolution and/or complete a goal). I already got to fill in one circle because I followed through on my morning routine this morning. SO SATISFYING.

As I brush my teeth in the morning, I’ll read through the list so everything is fresh on my brain. Then at night, I’ll fill in my circles and triangles.

Next week, I’ll delve into some of my specific resolutions and goals – nothing like a little public accountability to make things happen!

2015, I’m ALL IN.

P.S. If you’ve made some goals or resolutions for yourself, tell me about them either in the comments of via email – hello@yourbiggestfangrace.com. I’m always inspired by hearing about what others are working on and I’d love to cheer you on as you make things happen in this new year!