How To Plan New Year Goals (With Prompts For Reflection)

A new year symbolizes a fresh start and is traditionally a time for setting resolutions. For some of us, the promise of a fresh start makes us pull out journals and pens to begin mapping out new year goals.

There’s a lot of talk about setting traditional new years resolutions at the beginning of January. Resolutions can be helpful but it can be hard to keep the momentum going.

This post takes an in-depth goal setting approach that starts with reflecting on the past year to help us understand what goals we want. We’ll go over our habits, breakdown goals into different life categories, and write a quarterly goal list. With a little bit of planning now, you’ll feel prepared to work towards your goals in the new year!

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New Year Planning Method

Okay, if you’re reading this I assume you may already enjoy planning (welcome!). If you’re a bit unsure, I welcome you with a deep breathe.

What we aren’t going to do is try to plan the nitty gritty details of life because let’s be honest, that is a little insane.

Sometimes life happens and plans don’t work out, but there’s gentle ways to stay on track with our goals.

Here’s an overview of the new year goal planning method:

• Take some time to reflect on the past year by answering writing prompts. What worked? What didn’t work? What do you want to carry into the new year? Reflecting is essential because we need to know what we have done, what we struggled to do, and what we actually want to do moving forward.
• Plan out goals for different life categories.
• Look at your daily habits and how they affect your goals. Adjusting old habits or creating new ones can support your goals. Small daily habits slowly shift our mindset over time. Habits can be hard to manage, but you can gently practice them (we don’t have to do everything all at once!).

How Will Planning Help Reach My Goals?

Have your ever heard of manifesting? It’s the idea that through the power of belief, we can “think” our dreams and goals into reality. It’s a ideology that our thoughts have the power to change the course of our world.

Whether you believe in manifesting or not, there is power in learning how much control you have over your mindset.

Taking your goals seriously by planning them and having them written out in front of you can help your mindset shift. Sometimes we have all of these things we say we want to do and just never get to it. Maybe it’s because there’s no clear direction.

Planning things in baby steps, and being intentional about what you want is a great way to get started!

How To Get Started

• Block out some quiet time to reflect and plan, grab your favorite drink or find your favorite space to work in.
• Grab a pen and paper or a journal (writing things down is a great way to slow the mind down). My favorite planners are linked in the section right below.

Planner OR Journal?

For goal planning, there is no right way. You can plan everything in a journal, a notepad, a whiteboard. You can use a journal for reflection and goal tracking and then use a daily planner for everything else (what I do). It’s all about what motivates you and what you’ll actually use all year.

Personally, I’m obsessed with planners, stationary…I love it all. It makes you feel intentional with the things you want to do. I think there’s some science somewhere about how writing things down makes you remember it better.

Here’s a list of the planners/journals that I have used and LOVED. I don’t say that lightly because I’ve tried many planners and journals over the years in a search for the perfect one.

Planners

• The Line Stationary: I use this as a daily planner. I buy inserts that I enjoy using and then create my perfect daily planner!
• Blue Sky: A very simple, straightforward planner with lots of room to write tasks.
• Hobonichi Techo A6: A beautiful daily planner with such a nice layout.

Journals

• paper republic: My pocket journal that I use for writing my milestones, doodles, random thoughts, etc.
• Moleskine Classic: A classic lined notebook that’s beautifully made for journaling.
• PAPERAGE Lined Spiral Journal: A beautiful and simplistic spiral notebook.

Other

• Planning new year goals can still work even if you prefer an online journal, or a free workspace like the Notion app.
• Print out my free downloadable new year goals planner to help get started!

Pens

I *had to* include a few of my all time favorite pens. If you know, you know. Writing with a perfect pen is the cherry on top.

• Uniball One Gel 0.38mm (current fav)
• UIXJODO Gel Pens, 0.5mm
• Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust Pens (for making my planner/journal look cute and colorful!)

Let’s Get Started!

• Part 1: Past year reflection
• Part 2: Plan out your goals
• Part 3: Brainstorm supporting habits
• Part 4: Break goals down quarterly

Part 1: Reflect On The Past Year

Before we sit down and write out your future goals, let’s first reflect on this past year. Try answering as many prompts as you’d like. Take your time to answer and really think about your experiences.

• What is something you wanted to focus on this year and did you focus on it?
• What unexpected challenges came up this year? How did you handle them?
• What big things happened? (i.e. new job, saved $, moved, got married, new pet)
• What is something you had to let go of this year? Did it benefit you?
• What habits do you want to carry with you into the new year?
• How did you treat yourself this year? Did you prioritize your well-being?
• What small things/experiences brought you joy this year?
• What goals did you NOT meet this year? Why?
• How did you treat others this year?
• In what ways did you grow as a person this year?
• Sum up your year with 3-5 words.

Part 2: Plan Goals For The New Year

Now that you got to reflect over the year, you should have a better understanding about what goals you have for the new year. They can be big or small, the size doesn’t matter.

I’ve broken it down into 6 categories but feel free to make up your own or only use 1 or 2 categories. There is no pressure to have a goal in each category, some of our brains just work better by dividing things out. My example is below:

None of my goals are too far from being unattainable. In fact, these goals relate to a bigger picture that I see for my life.

If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, try working backwards. Imagine one year from now it’s December and you’re reflecting on the past year. What would you have liked to accomplished? By working backwards you can think about the big picture goals, which we’ll break down into actual achievable goals.

i.e. You want to run a marathon? How will you get there? Start by thinking about the steps it will take to accomplish this.

Part 3: Brainstorm Habits To Support Goals

Now that you have a list of goals, let’s take a look at daily/weekly habits that will help you shift your mindset and support them.

For example, if I want to gain strength from my workouts, I want to get into the habit of working out 3 times a week.

You could have good habits already in place. Remember, healthy habits are things that we do over and over that aid us in living the life that we want. My habit brainstorming list is below, and they directly relate to my goals list above.

Part 4: Break Goals Into Quarters

This can seem like overkill, but hear me out. Breaking down your goals into quarters creates a great visual, especially if your goals are based on a certain deadline (but they don’t have to be).

Quarterly overviews don’t have to be perfect (mine is written in a brainstorming format). Remember, it’s okay if things change and some goals aren’t met. Overall, life happens and this is just a visual guide that can help you remember what it is you want to accomplish.

In my free downloadable, I have a pages for a 2026 mini calendar with space for notes. This let’s you break down the goals by quarter even further if you prefer more specifics. Here’s a preview:

Conclusion

Don’t worry about making your plans look “perfect.” If you struggle with the idea of things needing to look perfect before beginning, know that you aren’t alone.

My tip is to try to enjoy the process and know that nothing is set in stone. Life happens, plans change, unexpected things happen and that’s life! What we can control are our habits, mindset, and the choices that we make.

I wish you the best in the new year!