Goals = Happiness

I became slightly obsessed with goal planning this past Nov/Dec.  I pinned articles, sent clips to Evernote, downloaded free eBooks, but two things really helped me.  

The first was deciding and purchasing a paper planner to use this year.  I know, I know.  Crazy, right?  I love my technology, trust me, I really love my iPhone, but I wanted to have something tangible to write in so I started looking around Pinterest and found iHeartOrganzing on Etsy.  I bought the PDF and had it printed and spiral bound at my local Staples.   

Isn’t it pretty?  It’s colorful and has large spaces for writing down tasks, goals, days off school, vacations, meal planning, etc.  I’m still using the calendar on my phone for things that my husband and I both need to see, but otherwise, I’m using this handy dandy fun tool.

The second thing was finding Leonie Dawson’s awesome book 2015 Create Your Shining Year.  It was a PDF download, but I also had it printed and spiral bound.  I’m not sure why, but I love a good workbook with questions and blank areas for written answers, space to doodle and work out things.  Especially if it’s bright and colorful - and this one definitely is!

These two tools helped me really think about what I wanted from 2015- and myself.  Using Leonie’s book I created real concrete written goals.  I created a vision board (see pic below).  I wrote a list of 100 things to do in 2015 (seriously, this was so much fun - you should try it!).  I came up with serious plans.  I came up with fun plans.  I came up with silly plans.  I came up with a word of the year (Happy).  I had fun and allowed myself to dream big.

And, even before 2014 ended, I started planning blog posts, reading books about spirituality, and was actually looking forward to the new year.  I was excited. I was filled with joy and - dare I say it - happiness.  I’ve been using the planner, decorating it with stickers and washi tape.  Filling it up with my life.  My goals.  My hopes and dreams.  I’ve been using the goal workbook to help me plan my month, go over previous months, and re-evaluate what’s working and what’s not.

I know it’s March already and I’m a bit late with this post.  Okay, here's a confession.  See, even though I started planning my blog posts I was trying to turn this into something serious and business-y.  And that didn’t work for me. It took me until the end of February to re-evaluate that goal, so I’m back to writing for fun and not for platform.  

So, even though I’m late, I want to hear from you guys - did you make any official 2015 goals?  Are you happy and excited about them? What tools or books or websites did you use?  Let’s all dream big together okay?