Free New Year's Resolutions and Goals Template for 2024

The new year is a great way to start fresh with new year’s resolutions or goals for your life. I love the fresh slate of a new year and a time to really process the past year and set up my own goals as I plan for the new year.

I use a new year goal setting template to help me reflect on the past and plan ahead for positive changes in the upcoming year!

Disclosure: Bear in mind that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I will always be honest about what I like and use, whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

How Start Your Goal Setting Session for the New Year

1. Choose your location for goal planning wisely

Try to get away for some quiet time and space to consider the past and plan ahead for personal growth. Grab a journal, this printable goal-setting template and your set of reflective questions!

Sometimes I like to have my thoughts in a physical journal so I can look back on long term and a printed version to post in a conspicuous place to keep me accountable. Get cozy with a mug of hot tea or coffee, some colorful pens, and some soothing music to set the mood for what you want to accomplish in the new year.

2. Spend time reflecting on the past

While I love diving right into setting high and lofty goals, it is so important to pause and consider the past year. So in that spirit I have created some questions to ponder as you look back and help you look back on the previous year to help with setting purposeful resolutions for the new year!

These writing prompts will definitely help, because it seems a little silly to jump to the future without considering the past.

What worked for you last year?
What went well?
What distracted you?
How do you want the next year to be different or the same?

Take time to acknowledge both your accomplishments and the good times as well as the failures and hard times.

3. Dream about the future possibilities

Confession time: I’m not the best dreamer. I’m often too practical for my own good. But I’m working at dreaming again, thinking about what I really want in my life, no matter how far-fetched it may seem.

This would be a perfect time to create a vision board in the goal planning process! You may want to go through the process of collecting photos and phrases from magazines or newspapers to include on a physical vision board. Or you may want to create a Pinterest board or even a folder of saved photos on your phone so you can access your vision board more easily. No matter what kind of vision board you create–be sure to put it somewhere you can see or access it often!

Think wildly about the calling God has on your life, what dreams He has placed in your head, passions in your heart, and talents in your hands.

What lights you up friend? What fires you up, makes you feel vibrant and alive?

RELATED: FREE 5 DAY CHASING VIBRANCE CHALLENGE

4. Write down your goals using the printable new year’s resolution template.

This is pretty self explanatory. Take the time to put your specific goal down using pen to paper. This is the first step of turning your dreams into reality! I always use a notebook paper to kind of rough draft my goals for the year before solidifying my goals and putting them down on the goal setting worksheet, which I’ll refer back to throughout the year!

How do you write your new years goals? Write SMART goals that are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time Oriented.

“Get healthy” is a general goal that is pretty vague. But “run a 10K on Memorial Day” or “write down my food everyday for 30 days.” are explicit goals with a plan of action around them. Instead of “travel more” choose “take 1 family vacation and 1 couples weekend getaway this year”.

How to Turn Your New Year Resolutions into Reality

1. Break down your goal into measurable steps.

Now take your goal and add some actionable steps to it.

What do you need to do this month do you reach your yearly goal?
What do you need to do this week to reach your monthly goal?
What can you commit to do each day to reach your weekly goal?

Make your daily things so-so-so small that you can’t talk yourself out of them! (This is a concept from the book I highly recommend called The Compound Effect)

What are the little things you are going to do to reach your goals?

So for me a big goal this year is losing weight so my goal breaks down like this…

Lose 60 pounds by the end of the year. (5 pounds a month)

Workout 4 times a week
Schedule childcare at gym on Mondays
Buy new running shoes
Drink 80 ounces of water a day
Sleep 7 or more hours every night
Track my food in MyFitnessPal 6/7 days per week

You may also want to add in tasks to do before starting your goal (like the buying new running shoes or signing up for a meal plan service). Of course, you can apply this method to any goal such as paying off debt or strengthening your marriage.

Just break your main goal down.

Ask yourself, “What new habits will I need to start to achieve my big goals”? For paying off debt, start with a January goal of checking your bank account every day and writing down a budget. For a healthier marriage, write one positive thing down about your spouse everyday and schedule a monthly date night.

Small actions compound over time and add up to huge results.

That’s why I added my daily journaling pages, habit tracker and gratitude record to the goal setting worksheet in 2021. These tools will help keep your goals front of mind and keep you focused on the *small* changes and habits you need to implement everyday to keep moving forward.

2. Use a planner to keep track of your progress monthly and weekly

When it comes to keeping track of your progress on your actionable steps a planner is hugely helpful! I like ones that have monthly goal setting and reflections areas so you keep your 2020 goals in sight as the year progresses! Here are a few of my favorite planners that help me keep track of my personal goals over the course of the year.

This is my go-to planner for tracking my goals and family life. Something about the layout and size just click for my brain.
A bullet journal can be a great flexible option as a planner. (Check out this article to learn more about bullet journaling!)
This happy planner is great if you want to customize your planner without as much work as bullet journaling.

If you’re not a pen and paper planner be sure to use your digital resources like Google Sheets, notion templates or google calendar to start to plan and track your progress toward your new goals.

RELATED: HOW TO SET NEW YEAR’S GOALS YOU’LL ACTUALLY ACHIEVE

3. Set Rewards to Keep You Motivated and Progressing

Who doesn’t like a gold star for finishing a goal? I like to build small rewards into big goals like a mani-pedi for losing 10 pounds or paying off a certain amount of debt or staying sugar-free for a month. Here are 155 great ideas for rewarding yourself!

You can also challenge someone and have a consequence for the loser…like the first one to drink pop has to donate $100 to the other person’s charity of choice or fold the laundry for a month.

Just remember in this to have FUN and enjoy the journey! This will also help determine what types of things motivate you and you can incorporate them into other goals and challenges.

4. Look for an accountability partner or method of accountability

This can be an online forum, an instagram page you start specifically for a wellness or debt free journey, a best friend you text, or a coach you hire! Tell people about your goals and ask them to help hold you accountable.

women gathered around a bible with smiles — Women engaging in Bible study

5. Tweak your goals as you go

It’s awesome to have a plan, but sometimes the plan changes. One year I spent a day around my 30th birthday writing down my goals and plans for the year in a quiet coffee shop. It was wonderful and so “me” to have the time and space to plan and dream.

And then…dun,dun,dun…I found out I was pregnant! That wasn’t in my plan at all! And yes, it totally shifted my year and action plan and everything. Which is totally normal and healthy.

In April, you may change jobs or move or be presented with a health challenge or any number of things that will mean you need to adapt your goals. Don’t sweat the changes, life is change. You may fall off track or neglect your goals for a season and that’s totally okay too. Sometimes a big goal (even if we don’t achieve it) can get us reset on the right track and right direction for the future of consistently building into the best life we want to create.

You can’t foresee everything in the future. Just adjust your sails (a little bit or a lot bit) and keep moving forward.

More help with goal setting + personal growth…

A new year is a new chance to reflect on the past and make plans and goals for the future. It is definitely worth it to take the time to set thoughtful and achievable goals AND the steps to reach them! Don’t forget to print your goal setting worksheet to help your goal planning for the new year be more intentional and focused than ever!

Happy Goal Setting!

New Year’s Resolutions and Goals Template for 2024

How Start Your Goal Setting Session for the New Year