From resolution to plan
Most New Year resolutions fail because they stay as wishes. This worksheet turns each one into a plan with five parts: the goal itself, why it matters to you, the action steps to get there, a deadline, and a progress bar you shade in as you go. Writing all five down takes ten minutes and makes the goal far more likely to happen.
Writing a goal that works
- Make it specific: "run a 5k in under 30 minutes", not "get fit".
- Write the why honestly. On a cold February morning, the reason is what gets you out of the door.
- List the first two or three steps only. You'll add more once those are done.
- Pick a real deadline, and put it in your calendar as well.
Using the progress bar
The ten boxes along the bottom of each goal stand for ten percent each. Shade them in as you hit milestones, whether that's pages written, money saved or kilometres run. Seeing the bar fill up is motivating, and an empty bar by March is a useful nudge to adjust the plan rather than give up.
Three goals is enough
The page holds up to three goals, which is about as many as most people can work on at once. Choose one for lots of writing space on a single big goal. Pair this sheet with the 2027 habit tracker, turning each action step into a daily habit, and review both at the end of every month. For children, the kids' version uses simpler prompts and stars.