PLOTTER YOUR WAY: Using PLOTTER as a Goal Tracker

Welcome to the fourth installment of PLOTTER YOUR WAY, a series of blog posts that aims to showcase the endless possibilities of PLOTTER and how it can be used to enhance your daily life. From planning to design, organization to personal growth, PLOTTER can be your go-to tool for a productive and fulfilling life.

Are you ready to make 2024 a productive and fulfilling year? With PLOTTER Leather Binders as your goal-setting companion, you can start planning your goals at the end of the year and step into the new year with confidence.

In this blog post, we will dive into how to use PLOTTER as a goal-setting and tracking tool and explore how it can help you achieve your objectives this year. Let’s take a closer look at the effectiveness of S.M.A.R.T. goal setting and how you can leverage dated refills like the Weekly Schedule Refill to track your habits and progress. By incorporating this goal-setting system into your routine, you will have a structured approach to building and reinforcing weekly habits.

Through careful planning, consistent tracking, and a commitment to your goals, you can make 2024 a year full of remarkable achievements and personal growth.

S. M. A. R. T. Goal Setting in your PLOTTER

S.M.A.R.T. goals are an effective approach to goal setting that can help you achieve success. By creating goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound, you can set clear and actionable objectives. Setting a few S.M.A.R.T. goals for 2024 is a great way to establish goals with clear guidelines for achievement.

Goal setting is easier said than done, so setting two to three S.M.A.R.T. goals for the year is a manageable way to ensure you work on the goals you have set. It is common to become fatigued by the obligations we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year, so setting a smaller number of goals that are clear and deliberate will increase the likelihood of success in achieving those goals.

You can plan and solidify your S.M.A.R.T. goals in your PLOTTER in various ways, either by creating a dedicated page for your goals from a Refill Memo Pad or using the Annual Mission page that comes with the dated Diary Refills. Either option allows for maximum flexibility because you can change where you add your goal page in your PLOTTER. This would be difficult in a bound notebook where you would have to cut and paste your goal page if you wanted to move it to a different section of your notebook.

Creating S.M.A.R.T. goals does not have to be difficult. The key is to be realistic about your goal while following the guidelines of the S.M.A.R.T. acronym: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Here is an example of a S.M.A.R.T. fitness goal:

Specific: I want to work out for at least 30 minutes every day.
Measurable: I will track the number of days I work out and aim for at least 4-5 days per week.
Attainable: I already exercise every week, but I want to be more consistent with it. Through routine and motivation, I can leverage my current workout abilities and skills to achieve this goal.
Relevant: Regular exercise will improve my fitness levels and overall well-being.
Time-bound: I will accomplish this goal by the end of the year, but I will check every quarter if I am still working out 4-5 times a week.

Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals is one of the keys to achieving success, but it cannot be done without effort and discipline. By creating goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound, you can set clear objectives for yourself rather than creating abstract goals with no clear guidelines.

Habit Tracking in Your Weekly Schedule

Now that you have set your main S.M.A.R.T. goals for the year, you can break them down into smaller weekly goals or habits that align with your larger goals. If you look back at the example of the S.M.A.R.T. fitness goal, the measurable aspect of that goal can be translated into a weekly goal, such as exercising for 30 minutes 4-5 times a week. This can be easily tracked in your weekly schedule as a habit that you can track.

There are various ways to track your habits or weekly goals using the Weekly Schedule Refill. All PLOTTER Weekly Schedule refills include the remaining dates of the month on the right edge of the right page. If you are only tracking one habit or goal, you can circle the date on the right edge of the Weekly Schedule to indicate completion.

Highlight or circle the dates on which the habit was completed.

Alternatively, you can create a habit tracker on the Weekly Schedule by using columns on the right page, assigning one column to each habit. As the week passes, you can signify that you’ve successfully done the desired action or habit with a checkmark in the appropriate column.

Create columns on the right side to track weekly habits.

Tracking your habits is crucial to assess your progress towards your larger goals, since it provides insight into whether you are meeting the measurable aspect of your goal. It is important to be honest with yourself when tracking these habits. While it may not look favorable if your habit tracker is empty at the end of the week, being honest with your progress is more important than having a visually pleasing habit tracker. By analyzing accurate information from your habit tracker, you can identify reasons for incomplete habits and goals and adjust your behaviors and plans for the upcoming week.

In conclusion, with PLOTTER Leather Binders as your goal-setting companion, you can embark on a journey to make 2024 a year of productivity and success. By harnessing the power of S.M.A.R.T. goal setting and leveraging PLOTTER refills, such as the Weekly Schedule Refill, you can set clear objectives, track your progress, and build effective habits that align with your larger goals.

Goal setting requires effort and discipline, but with careful planning and reflection, you can turn your aspirations into achievements. Start planning your goals with PLOTTER and step into the new year with confidence and determination.