Most goals don’t fail because people lack effort. They fail because the plan starts from a wish instead of an honest look at life. This free worksheet walks you through setting goals the right way: look back honestly, choose what matters, and plan your first milestone.
9 pages · Free · Type your answers on screen or print it. Designed for US Letter; prints on A4 too: choose “Fit to page” if your printer asks.
What’s inside
- Look back at your last 3 years. For each area of life (personal, professional, finance and social), describe the year before last, last year and this year, and see which way each area is really moving.
- Find what still matters. List what is still missing, decide whether it still matters to you today and why, and choose your main area for the year.
- Your vision and big goal. Dream without limits, then write your goal so clearly that someone in your family, even a teenager, could picture it.
- Milestones and actions. Break the goal into milestones, then plan six clear actions: three for your main area and one for each of the other three areas.
- Track daily, review every quarter. A monthly action tracker to tick off each day, and a quarterly review page.
- A filled-in example to show how a finished plan looks.
How to use it
Set aside one quiet evening and work through the steps in order, because each step builds on the one before it. Be honest with yourself, as nobody else needs to see your answers. Keep your big goal private and share it only with your family. Print the Monthly Action Tracker once for each month and, at the end of every day, tick each action you completed.
Why it starts with looking back
One year is often too short to show a pattern, while three years shows you which way your life is really moving. When you start from where you truly stand, and choose goals that matter to you emotionally, you are far more likely to keep following your plan when things get hard.
