Not Another January blog

With the global stationery market projected to be worth $217.9 Billion by 2027, no wonder why — when January comes — we end up drowning in goal-setting notepads, agendas, planners, and so many other habit trackers.

Though we might think we need it all, we don’t. Truth be told, we are guilt-tripped into buying notepads promising us a life makeover which alone cannot turn around our life. In the best-case scenario, these countless notepads overwhelm us. Worst-case scenario, we end up feeling miserable.

The real question is: ‘How do I go about goal setting and sticking with it?’

Let’s start with your WHY.

Photo by emily morter on unsplash

Raise your hand if, come February, you have already shoved your planners at the back of your drawers without even using them. I sure did! At least till 2020, until I realised something had to give.

When planning for the year ahead, I think of what I want to achieve, starting with my WHY. My WHY is my drive, what motivates me. And since 2020, my WHY no longer begins with a so-called magic planner. To define my WHY, I now ask myself the following questions:

• Why do I wake up excited in the morning?
• Why do I need to reach this goal?
• Why did I not land my goal(s) last year?
• Why do I want this job?
• Why do I want this house?
• Why do I need this relationship in my life?

Now that you have completed STEP 1 let’s move on to your WHAT.

Let’s talk about your WHAT.

Photo by tim mossholder on unsplash

Define your end goal. It does not have to be a yearly or a monthly objective. Think much further out, reflect on what fundamentally fires you up. Ask yourself, ‘What is my wildest dream?’ and do not hold back. If you do not know where to start, ask yourself some of the below questions.

• When do I feel at my happiest?
• Where do I feel the most joyful?
• Who do I feel the most complete with?
• What makes me smile?
• What do I like doing?
• If I could do one thing for the rest of my life, what would it be?

The answer to these questions defines YOUR HAPPY, also called your WHAT. Your WHAT can be one or multiple things: a job, a place, an activity, a location…. Eva Longoria believes that part of her success is linked to her ability to identify her priorities. She credits her precise planning to her happy life.

Now that you have your WHY and WHAT, what is next?

Time to identify the tools to unlock your magic. Not everyone needs a planner or an agenda to manifest their dreams. First, understand the kind of person you are by answering with a YES or NO to the below questions. Please note this is not an exhaustive list.

• Do you need to touch things to find them tangible?
• Do you learn by listening (podcasts, audiobooks, etc.)?
• Do you need a visual aid to remember what you want to achieve?
• Does your memory sometimes fail you, and you need to write things down?
• How much information can you manage at once? (daily, weekly)

There is no right or wrong because not one person is the same.

Your answer will also depend on where you are at in your life and the type of goals. E.g.: personal vs professional. For instance, if you like to touch things, a visualisation board might be more suitable for you. On the other hand, if you prefer audio content, you might choose pre-recorded ‘to do lists’ that you can play on a weekly or even daily basis.

In an interview, the famous model Ashley Graham explained that she has been using vision boards since college. Whenever she had a dream, like being a supermodel, she created a vision board with cutouts from magazines that she placed in her eyesight to remind her what she was working towards.

Photo by hope house press on unsplash

I am no Ashley, but here are some of the planner’s criteria:

1. PRIORITISATION: I need to see tangible progress to feel good about myself, so I prefer weekly planners. Whenever I have used monthly trackers, I have struggled to cope as it felt like yet another endless ‘to do list’.
2. VISUALISATION: I am a visual person, so I use highlighters to colour code tasks. For example, each women network I volunteer for has a different colour and write them off. The simple act of crossing off a task feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
3. OWNABLE: I need space in the planner to write notes and reflections. If I don’t have enough space, I have to force myself to remember things that I will eventually forget.
4. PRICE: I always have a price tag before browsing, which narrows down options, making it way easier to choose.

Last but not least, I want to remind you there is no such thing as failure or even a failed goal.

Serena Williams once said, “I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall”. So, if by February 2022 your ‘goal-setting system’ does not work, find another one.

It is never too late to start or even reset.

This blog contribution was made by Gaelle Couberes.

Gaelle is originally from France though a Londoner at heart, who believes in the power of sisterhood, championing diversity, inclusion and mental health. Gaelle works in the beauty industry as a Senior Innovation Manager, taking pride in being a content creator and a mentor.

In 2020, Gaelle became a mentor for the LMF mentoring programme and, in 2021, is crafting content for the blog.

Stay tuned for her regular blogs in English and French.

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