I would love to hear your stories of how your Filofax has helped you reach your goals. As we all know, I'm always interested in goal-setting and methods for reaching goals, and I'd love to hear specifically how Filofax has helped you reach yours.
Especially this time of year as we reflect back on the past year and prepare for the new one, it's fun to think of our accomplishments from this year and goals for next year.
My best example of how my Filofax helped me reach a goal was definitely graduate school. My degree was interdepartmental (Geology and Biology) and it was a topic no one had studied at that school before (the origin of birds) so nobody knew exactly what my degree requirements should be regarding which classes I should take, the structure of my thesis etc. Once those things were determined, I wrote them into a special section in my Filofax that I saved until my degree was completed. As I completed each requirement, I recorded when it was completed and what my grade was. This was especially helpful when I was registering for classes, if one class was already full I could look at my list and register for a different class on my requirements list. Then near the end of my degree when my 3 advisers couldn't agree on what I needed to complete for graduation, I was able to remind them of what we originally agreed on and I had my record of what I had completed when. This proved to be very important! I think students often trust their advisers to know what their requirements should be, but all students need to remember that your degree is ultimately your responsibility and you need to keep track of your requirements.
Right now in my Filofax I have a separate Goals section. I use blue lined paper in this section to make my goals stand out. I have a page for each Goals topic (Personal; Home; Financial etc.) and individual goals listed under the topic. Then I have a new page for each month for those goals or steps I want to specifically focus on that month. I keep my current month's goals directly behind the Notes tab so it's visible right at the front. At the end of the month I write my month-end review on the back of the page, and archive the page at the back of the Goals section so I have a record of my goals and accomplishments each month.
Please post a comment to share your story, whether from this year or longer ago, of how your Filofax helped you reach a goal!
Excellent post Laurie. I believe I will replicate your goal system somehow in one or both of my filos! Keep me on track. Currently, both my filos (A5&pocket) are helping me with a MAJOR professional goal. I am a member of the global Project Management Institute and scheduled to take the Project Management Professional certification exam this Feb 25th. In my A5, I have a apecial section with all my study notes and diagrams that I keep on hand as I go thru my study guides. So A5 is taking the journey with me! In my Pocket for I keep a journal of each day's study activities - what practice exams I take,scores, blogs I read, etc. So even though, I'm not "ticking" off any "goals to do" I am gladly pushing myself to fill up the pages with notes, etc.
ReplyDeleteLaurie, wait a minute. You wrote your theses at graduate school - does that mean you are a PhD or "Dr. Laurie"?
ReplyDeletebest,
bernhard
LOL bernhard! No, I don't have my PhD, just MSc.
ReplyDeleteHow great would that be if I were Dr. Plannerisms?!?!?
I have one personal Filofax dedicated to Mission 101. I use the week pages to keep track of my moods, migraines and pill, so I can see in a year if my migraines are triggered by my pill or not, and if the seasons influence my mood.
ReplyDeleteI then use the other parts for my mission 101 list, and then seperate goals, for example: Health, to buy, weekly goals, monthly goals, list of books and movies, lists I wanna keep etc.
I have decided I will keep my A5 filofax as a guidebook for my study (I currently do a Higher Eductian in Translator English), so I can see what I have done, still have to do and how much time a week I have dedicated to my studies.
Not strictly Filofax related but I had a huge weight problem when I was younger. I was a fat child, and a fat adult, and just getting fatter and fatter. Went on every fad diet in the book.
ReplyDeleteFinally,on 1 May 1987 I began weighing myself once a week and recording it. I didn't do a fad diet, just ate sensibly and moved more. I lost 56 kilograms (about 123 pounds) and have kept it off since then. Nowadays I manage to keep my weight steady at about 55kg just by recording it every few days or so. Because I write it down, I can't block out weight gains and I have to do something about it before it spirals out of control. As well as my weight, I record compliments or make lists of treats to buy instead of food. . At the back I write down inspirational quotes. Sometimes I write down what I eat or how I am feeling if things get a bit out of control (I am an emotional eater). When things are tough I read back how far I have gone or read my quotes for inspiration
Many years ago I moved from a bound book to a ring binder one as it develops with me over the years and I can have my favourite quotes with me whichever book I use.
Because I have been slim for so long people view me as 'naturally thin'. Only my book knows the truth!
I keep an insert with my yearly goals tucked into the monthly pages, then a Franklin-Covey Weekly compass insert that contains my weekly goals. I also developed a worksheet that tracks certain metrics like how I adhered to certain practices and then I grade the week as to how it went. My Filo is a great goal achieving companion!
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments. I recently purchased an A5 Classic due to an increased work load and a need for more writing space. It's hard to tear myself away from the personal size, but I know I need to pay more attention to detail and goals. It seems that most people (except for Jotke) use the A5 when discussing a goal orientation. Do you feel that the A5 is better suited for running a business and having a serious goal orientation???
ReplyDeleteI have an inspiration pocket Filofax to help spur me on to achieving personal excellence:-)
ReplyDeleteMy main Filofax, the personal Adelphi is where I record everything I need to do that is work related or academic. My now retired botanic (as it is worn out after providing stellar service!) helped me get through the first 2 years of a job that combined training in public health medicine with an academic post(so 2 jobs in one), passing two professional membership exams and getting a fellowship for my PhD. None of those things would have been achieved without my Filofax!
CB I'd love to hear some details of how you managed such a busy and detail-filled schedule with your Personal size Filofax! What diary format did you use? And how did you keep up on everything?
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Laurie. I haven't had a Goals section for a while, since I don't seem to have enough major goals to write them down, but since I'm redoing the tabs in my A5, I'm going to try it. I'm not planning to launch anything new in 2011 (but you never know!), but I think I'll accomplish more in existing areas of my life if I write down specific goals.
ReplyDelete