Last Updated on May 25, 2022 by Latrice
So you’re ready to start organizing and planning your transformation goals. Great decision.
Planning and organizing can take a bit of time but is totally worth the time it takes to do it. You actually save time when you spend an hour or so scheduling and planning what you’ve got to do. Especially if you’re juggling transformation goals with work, a side hustle, raising children, and so forth.
Below I give you some steps on getting set up and planned with your goals. I also share the benefits I’ve experienced when I took planning my life outside of work more seriously.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are ‘affiliate links.’ This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Full disclosure.
The life-changing benefits of using a planner for my transformation goals
Gurl, where do I even start!? I love using a planner to organize my life and transformation goals. I used to SUCK at doing things like making sure I made time to deep condition my hair and meal plan. It was rough. Then I started using a planner and I started being able to make time for self-care and organization.
For my transformation goals, this has meant being able to properly plan my day to fit in my self-care, workouts, and other beauty, health, and wellness tasks for my transformation goals.
I’ve been doing this now, seriously, for the last year. Using a planner has helped me make the changes I need to make to achieve my goals. I’m eating healthier, losing weight, and achieving my self-care goals.
How do you plan your day, week, and month to manage your transformation goals and action plans?
The best way to plan your day, week, and month to manage your lifestyle goals and action plans is to start with an “ideal week” or “ideal month.” This is a way for you to map out what you would want your day to look like if you were doing everything you want and need to do to achieve your goals.
(With consideration of the time you actually have of course.)
This is what your day, week, and month, and even year would look like if you were sticking to your plans and making your goals happen. Setting up an “ideal month” is how I remember everything I need to do for my lifestyle goals when I am planning my month and weeks.
It is a great way to stay on top of what’s required and structure your days appropriately. I go more in-depth on how to do this below.
Helpful pages to have in your planner for your transformation goals
Having a page that lists out your goals is important to have. View these daily. I suggest having a few pages for goals so you can also go back and adjust goals as you move on your journey and get clearer about what you want.
Viewing your goals daily and reevaluating them appropriately increases discipline and helps your mindset get in alignment.
Have a habit tracker that lists your routine in the steps you do them. My habit tracker is pretty much my morning and evening schedule in a list form where I fill in boxes as I get them done. I also try to do this for my work tasks so I can stay on top of the things I need for my business too.
Weekly and monthly review sheets. These help you stay on top of your goals too. And if you can add a daily review sheet, add those too. I love having these because they have really helped me be honest about my performance and progress, not ignore when I am falling off-plan, and create contingency plans for the following day if needed.
Books and resources for your weight loss transformation goals. This helps when you need to quickly get to a book, tool, website, or course that will help you on your journey.
Step 0: Get clear on what your transformation goals are first
The first thing to do before planning and organizing your planner to achieve your transformation goals is to know what your goals are, to begin with. I’m sure you have an idea, but it never hurts to be even clearer where you can.
And write these goals in a way that actually gets them accomplished. Yes, the words you use to write your goals matter. Don’t use words that put your goals in the future. Instead, write your goals using words that make them yours now.
This helps your mind and subconscious start living out what is required for your goals now. This improves self-discipline and updates your self-image. Updating your self-image, by the way, is crucial to achieving your transformation goals.
And if you’re looking to fine-tune the goals you’ve set even more, I suggest reading Values-Based Goal Setting: How to Dream Big and Live the Life You Were Meant to Live by Stephanie Dee Smith.
This book has helped me pinpoint what personal values back the goals I’ve set. I’ve learned to prioritize the right goals for me personally and increase my motivation. This book is definitely worth the read.
You can listen to this title + 1 other for free on Audible by signing up for their free trial. You can also read it for free by signing up for a free trial of Kindle Unlimited. Both beneficial memberships on a transformation journey.
Other good personal development and transformation books on my shelf: 7 Self-improvement books that helped me lose weight, earn more money and have the guts to do what I love
Step 1: List out the action steps you’ll need to complete to achieve your transformation goals
After you’ve made a list of the goals you’re going to be focused on throughout the year (or upcoming months or so), prioritize 3 to 5 and put those goals at the top of a piece of paper. List out the action steps you’ll need to take to achieve these goals.
These action steps can include taking courses, meal planning, working out 6 days a week, budgeting your money two times a month, meditating every morning, and even researching what exactly you need to do. It’s ok to not know everything you need to do, you just need to know what actions you can take right now.
On some goals, your action steps might be to Google what courses to take, how to improve your credit, or what to do to start eating healthy. Whatever those steps are, it is important to have them written down under those goals in this step.
You can revisit this sheet to add steps once you find them out.
Is weight loss a part of your transformation? Here is a list of action steps you might find helpful: 15 healthy habits that make weight loss super simple
Step 2: Create a master list of the daily habits you need for your transformation goals
Create a master list of the daily habits you need to achieve your transformation goals. I have one I print out every month and practice getting better at. On some days the only motivation I have is to get that bad boy colored in. And that’s alright.
Having a master list of your daily habits helps you stay on top of them when they’re fresh to your routine. Especially if you are prone to “forget” what you should be doing because you get distracted on Instagram. I was bad at this. Forgetting was super annoying.
Having a master list has definitely made a difference.
Step 3: Create a list of the other action steps you’ll need to achieve your transformation goals
Now, I know I told you to list out your action steps in step 1, but now you’re going to create a separate list for the weekly, monthly, and one-off tasks you need to achieve your goals. Having this list is good for reference.
Come back to this list when you are planning your days, months, and weeks. Schedule the tasks from this list like the research you need to do, the course you need to start, or the consultation you need to schedule. Use this list and add the other action steps to your calendar.
Having this action list will help you make sure you get those other things done too for your transformation goals.
Step 4: List and schedule your other obligations to determine where you’ve actually got time for your goals
I find this extremely helpful to making my transformation and level up goals fit into my life around my other obligations.
What I do is create a document of what my day looks like with the things I have to do as far as work and other obligations. This helps me see where I actually have time to work on my goals and where I can make time. When I first did this, I found all types of time hanging out after and before my day. You might be surprised.
Create a table of what your schedule looks like with your obligations to see for yourself where you’ve got time.
Step 5: In the slots where you’ve got time for a routine, stack in the daily habits you need to achieve your transformation goals
Now that you can clearly see where you’ve got time for your goals, begin adding your daily habits, as well as your weekly and monthly tasks.
You can add this to your “ideal/master schedule” or you can add them straight to your planner as you plan. I suggest having your “ideal/master schedule” created and handy for when you do your weekly and monthly planning.
And instead of listing out everything in a schedule that I do during a routine, I like to add “complete M routine” to my planner for checking off if I’ve completed my entire morning routine. I also have a checkbox for “completed E routine” for completing my evening routine.
By the end of this step, you should know when you are going to carry out your routine of action steps for your transformation goals. You might not know exactly how long it’ll take you to complete your routines, but you can adjust when you do.
Struggle with sticking to your routines? Read: How to create a self-care routine that’ll make healthy habits easy to stick to
Step 6: Add tasks from your “other action steps” list daily, weekly, and monthly for when they can be worked on or when you’re prepared for them
By this step, you’ve got a routine planned and scheduled around your work, school, and other obligations. Now it’s time to add those other action steps to your schedule.
When you are doing your planning, take action steps from your lists and add them where you’ve got the time available. Need to do research? Schedule it. Need to schedule a consultation with a coach? Put it in your planner.
Having your transformation goals and action steps there while you do your planning ensures you get those action steps done for your goals.
Step 7: Make sure you make time to plan and schedule
And make sure you schedule a time to plan and review regularly. This is crucial to keeping you on track, keeping you prepared, and things moving as smoothly as possible.
It might seem time-consuming to sit down and plan out your days, weeks, and months like this, but really it is SO WORTH IT! You move faster on your goals when you’ve actually got your action steps planned and scheduled.
I save time by doing a bulk of my planning weekly and planning my month. I suggest at least getting the planning done weekly and monthly. It’s much easier to plan your day quickly when you have a general idea of what you should be doing.
Here are more tips for keeping health and wellness care in a planner: Tips for keeping a health and wellness planner
Step 8: Keep your planner where you can see it daily
This is especially helpful for those that tend to “forget” about their goals and let their days just run away from them. Having your planner visible helps you stay accountable to yourself and is a solid reminder that you’ve got plans.
And the trip is that this really does work. I used to fold my planner up and forget about it as my day went on. This made it really easy for me to spend too much time on Instagram or get caught up on YouTube. I was losing time.
Having my planner open has helped me put down my phone when I’ve picked it up out of habit. Seeing it first thing in the morning has encouraged me to hop into my morning routine instead of check Gmail. And it’s pretty so… that’s a plus.
Note!
Take your time with these steps. Brew some coffee or steep some tea and spend some time to get your calendar planned and organized for your transformation goals. Comment below if you have any questions or will like clarification.
I’d also like to know if you’ve too struggled with planning your days outside of work. Let’s chat!
