Bullet Journals and Goal Books - How To Make The Most Of Them

Mandatory requirement: the book had to be square lined and HAD to be pink

When I was in highschool, we were given a hardback display folder. The colour of it was like congealed offal (soz) that had this supposedly classy pattern across it which mainly looked like the offal's veins. This folder was gloriously embossed (IN GOLD) with "Record of achievement" on the front (no expenses spared). The idea of this was that of course we'd have achieved so many academic / sporting / musical accolades that it needed it's own portable display cabinet. Perhaps we were meant to bring along to interviews which of course would not make us look at all earnest and desperate.

However after the degree certificate, I don't think I've put anything in it since. And towards the end of last year it got me thinking that's it not a bad idea to do something like this but on a life / personal perspective. 

So having drooled over the bullet journals on Instagram and Pinterest, I took what I liked most about them and created my own one. Now approaching the end of month 2 (just to prove to myself I got past the fad phase of January's new year new me) here are my tips on making your own bullet journal / goals book.

1. This book is for you (so be realistic)

What do you want from this? For me, there were several things. Part bucket list planner, part life sorter but mainly I wanted to end the year seeing a progression of something I wanted to be better at.

Cue quotes totally stolen from Pinterest and glued in the book

One of these things was related to health and fitness. I have a love / hate relationship (mainly hate) with the gym. If I could find a reason to not go (cold, tired, hungry, long day at work, GBBO was on) then I'd take it. However I know realistically I'm capable but it's a mind thing. So I booked to do a gruelling charity event in June that requires (a lot of) cycling, hiking and canoeing. Then I set up a tracker in this book to record each time I did any exercise. And boom. From going to the gym once a month and doing FA, I'm going a lot more in the week. The ego in me really likes seeing what I'm doing in the latest week vs the first week and it's also a way to know I'm on track to being able to do this event. 

When you can see progress over time, it makes you want to work hard to maintain it. You can do it, put your back into it.

A bullet journal is a bit of a catch-all term and I've seen it used in many ways. I would say some part of my book follows the conventional parts but a lot of it was just what I want to track. I recommend you look online for ideas but to be honest it sounds a bit lame but you only need to look at yourself to know what you want because if you try to copy someone else's idea, likelihood is that you won't keep it up because it's not that compelling for you.

2. Don't waste time - just get on with it. 
Stationary porn is a thing so bullet journal porn must totally be a thing because it's stationary combined with artistic skill. But back to point 1 (be realistic) I don't have the artistic skill set to make it look good. Plus I barely have enough time to actually fill in the content. For example, below is a mood tracker; something my friend told me about using colour-code for your feelings each day (note: green and oranges are bad). As it's important to me to be aware of my feelings, this was something I really wanted to do. What I had seen online looks stunning but as you can see below, it is less than gorgeous but it doesn't matter. Making it look good would be me procrastinating which is the exact opposite intention of this book. So mine is like a Birkenstock in some ways; it looks OK but mainly appreciated for its function.

Also be open minded for change and not expecting to follow a rigid approach just because it looks good. I draw my monthly action list and reflection each month (rather than doing it all upfront). At the same time I'm trying to practise my calligraphy when I write each month. My "March" looks awful - but who cares?!

3. Monitor, track, promise, plan and reflect

As you can see I'm using it to monitor my feelings and track my fitness. However what I knew I also wanted (point 1) was a long-term plan. I'm an opportunist and I think it's important to be adaptable but I also knew if I didn't plan I would drift and bam another year of nothing achieved would go by. 

So I have a quarterly planner. A to-do list of things I need to do by the end of each quarter so I'm not stressing myself out by month or even week. I'm not talking about doing the laundry but things I keep saying I'll do but haven't gotten round to it (my life motto is "If not now, then f*cking when?").

As I said in point 2, I do a forward month plan and then a month reflection to see if I hit what I said. I like this because it's about progress and keeping a regular check to see if I'm on track. I don't want to go through the whole year then look back this December and think of things I could have done differently because I want to have done it differently in all the months leading up to December. The time is now! 

Other things I've got going on in my book to complete as and when

1. Good feed deed - no matter how big or small I list them all
2. Gratitude list
3. Achievement of the month
4. Moan-free tracker - I never realised how much I moaned until I saw how few ticks there are
5. 4 year holiday planner broken down by season - no getting side-tracked 
6. "If I did more of this, I would be a better person list" - it makes me more conscious to do it
7. Tarot card for the month - which I reflect on at the end of the month as well as the beginning
8. Painting ideas - something I want to improve so I've already given myself  list of things to paint
9. And lots and lots of quotes stolen from Instagram and Pinterest

I hope you found these tips useful. I can vouch that by making it work for me, it's working and I don't see why I won't continue it. I'm still a hedonist at heart and I'll always be living life like it'll be taken away from me at any moment (remember "if not now, then f*cking when?") but this book enables me that should I live many, many years (I hope), I will be progressing and blossoming each and every day.

Do you have a bullet journal and how are you getting on with it?