Goal-making Made Gorgeous

This post is actually from last year, but I thought it could be particularly helpful during this time of resolution-making and goal setting!

If you have been reading Yes and Yes for any amount of time, you probably know that Making The Lists and Accomplishing All The Things are practically my favorite hobbies.  In addition to eating cheese, dressing animals in outfits and traveling the world.

Of course, I have a never-ending, constantly-evolving list of yearly goals, but since it’s a piece of notebook paper taped to the wall, it’s less than inspiring.  And while I know the rest of the Internet loves nothing so much as aspirational Pinterest accounts and vision boards, that stuff just isn’t quite my style.

Enter: Wall O’ Goals. 

Visually engaging.  Reminder-ful.  Cuter than notebook paper taped to the wall.



Here’s how I made it!

1.  Shuffle through Flickr Creative Commons and find gorgeous images that match my goals.
2.  In Picmonkey crop, resize and add text to my photos.  I used Impact font in white, faded 13% because I’m nothing if not a total effing hipster.
3. Drop my edited images into a Google doc and print said document on cardstock.
4.  Purchase adorably tiny bulldog clips.
5.  Map out a grid on the wall, pound in some nails, hang goals.
6.  Look at artfully arranged goals every day and start to actually accomplish them.

And!  If you’re feeling really ambitious, once you’ve accomplished something you can write about the process on the back of the card and bind your finished cards into a little book.  Lovely!

How do you stay on track with your goals?

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28 Comments

  1. lauren claire  |  rebuild

    Ooh, this is devilishly clever! I decided that this year I'd take things bite by bite and set a few smaller goals at the start of each month. So for January, I'm working on establishing a calming bedtime routine, taking a break from reading the daily news, making the bed EVERY morning, and setting an intention for the day each morning. Pretty cards like yours might help me stay focused on those 4. And, because I am a small child and need incentives, I was thinking of maybe doing a sticker chart of some sort on the back of the cards. One sticker for each day of accomplishment! And then hopefully by the end of the month, those things will be more habitual and I can add on some new goals for February.

  2. Allie

    I agree with Lauren in doing monthly goals rather than huge ones. If you're like me and you can't print and do fancy stuffs with the internets, you can just buy cardstock and use stickers (my favorite thing – oh hai Lisa Frank!) and other adorable garnishments from the craft/fabric store. I was even thinking of just doing fabric, since you can buy them in squares for 99 cents and attacking everything via mag. to a spray painted cookie sheet.

    Because I'm cheap.

    My goals for this year are pretty simple:

    1. Moisturize.

    2. Learn to drive

    3. Pay off 2/3rds of debt.

    4. Exercise on the regular, even if Jillian Michaels scares me.

    5. Support the boyfriend/friends with their graduations, weddings and babies.

    Good luck to everyone else!

    • Allie

      I meant attaching. Attacking is not nice.

  3. musingsofheather

    I love this soooo much!! I am such a visual (and tactile) person. This is such a great idea!!

  4. Rebecca

    Such a beautiful and inspiring way to approach goal setting. Thanks for sharing!
    xoxo
    Rebecca

  5. Angie

    What a beautiful idea!

  6. Anonymous

    I really love this idea too, and I think it will really help me remember and stay focused on my goals this year. They usually fly out of my head even when I write them down.

    But I don't want my (maybe sometimes personal) goals to be up and out where everyone can see them. Or even where one person can see them. Thinking…..

  7. Natalie

    I really love this!

  8. Vanessa

    I love this idea, too. It's actually how I originally found my way to your blog — I saw it on Off Beat Home and followed it here. Thanks for the re-post!

  9. Chris Hughes

    this is an awesome way to create a vision board!

  10. Allison Lizer

    This is perfect for my home office! I'm still working at my 101 list. Maybe I could make a few of those into this visual to keep me motivated. Thanks!

  11. Tempest in a Teapot

    Eight out of twelve is mighty impressive, Sarah Von. I hope your Design*Sponge goal carries over to 2913. I'd love a tour of your whole pad.

  12. humblefoodie.com

    These are awesome! I've been thinking about a way to make my goals more visually appealing so I wouldn't be embarrassed by a dreary list posted on the wall. These look great…now I just need to find some wall space. Maybe my folding closet door should finally be put to use!

  13. Ru-chan

    What a cool idea and good luck with your goals!

  14. @distract_me

    This is such a great idea! I use PicMonkey a lot but I'd never thought of using it for this… Definitely going to make myself some of these. xx

  15. Lisa

    This is an awesome idea! At the moment I just have a tiny purple whiteboard (purpleboard?) and while it's so satisfying to literally wipe away my goals when they're complete I'm all about the visuals so I might get onto this!

  16. Chloe Moon

    What an inspiring way to remember your goals!! I got a printer this Xmas so this will definitely be part of my weekend!! =)

    Ergo – Blog

  17. Stefanie

    I love this! I really want to do something like this! Found you through Amy's blog, Coffee and Sunshine! 🙂

  18. Tina@intelius

    That's a good idea and lots of fun- like the visuals but it wouldn't work for me. The walls in our home are already covered with lots of art, lol

    One of my goals for this year is to do new pieces and change out some of them. I'm on target with that and have already gotten a piece done.

    What works for me is writing the goals down in a book that I look in often. I also have them written down in books that I don't look in so often. The one I look in often, of course, is my daily planner. Since I know what my overall goals are, I can gear my actions each day towards them.

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