In early November I began thinking about how quickly the new year is approaching, and what goals I would want to set for myself throughout 2019. I’ve been getting more and more interested in intentional living for the last few years and I decided in 2019, I wanted to take some serious action. 

I went looking for a guidebook that would keep me on track and wasn’t thrilled with my options. There were some out there that were contenders, but ultimately I decided I could create something custom, exactly what I was looking for. 

Last year I created a document on Google Drive that was a great start but lacked the guidance I know I needed. This document included a journal entry highlighting where I saw myself by the end of 2018 and then a list of all of the goals I wanted to achieve. Once I had my goals defined I dove slightly deeper into them by breaking them into quarterly and monthly goals. 

This was a great start for me, but I really needed something that I could check in with every day and would keep me motivated and on track. This original Google Doc only held my attention for about two months and my goals went mostly unachieved. 

This year I set out to create something that would keep me going through the whole year and landed on the idea to create an interactive PDF that I could maintain on my iPad. I’m pretty friendly with various Adobe products, InDesign included, so I fired it up and got working. 

To be honest, I surprised myself at how in-depth this project became. The more friends and family I told about it, the more their interest grew so I knew I had to make it available for them too. This meant I had to up my game and make it not only functional but user-friendly for anyone, thorough and thought out, easily readable, and of course beautiful. 

The Guidebook is something I’m really proud of because of how comprehensive it turned out to be. I’ve broken the goal setting element of the guidebook into 10 areas of life that can be developed:

The Guidebook opens with an introductory word from me about the book and this same story, shortened, and moves into the first step: A Meditation To Manifest. This meditation is designed to help you think through the entire year month by month and determine where you visualize yourself by the end of 2019. Getting into the right mindset is an important part of manifesting a future reality, so this was the obvious starting point. 

Next, the user moves immediately into a journal prompt called the Vision Journal where the task is to take all of their thoughts from the Meditation to Manifest and put those thoughts into a form in which they can be read again and again throughout the year. 

This Vision Journal is a pivotal point in the Guidebook because it guides the next step; the goal-setting process. This next piece prompts users to extract elements from the Journal to determine their 2019 goals. Once the goals are defined, the user works through each of their goals using the Goal Breakdown Worksheets and get into in-depth aspects of their goal to help them get as crystal clear as possible. 

Once the user’s goals are clearly detailed, the next step of the Guidebook is to break down those goals into bite-sized chunks for Quarter 1: January – March, and then further into January tasks, and Week 1 tasks. 

Each week has a task-list with checkboxes and pre-included tasks pertaining to the Guidebook itself (example: Complete Week 2 Worksheet or, Complete February Breakdown, etc.). 

To keep users feeling supported throughout the year, I’ve added in motivational elements, inspirational quotes, and encouraging notes from me prompting the user to pat themselves on the back for their hard work and keep going.

It took me about a month to get through the bulk of the Guidebook, but now the project is finally completed and I have it available for immediate download on our Etsy shop in three different variations: 

• Digital Interactive Version for use on a tablet such as an iPad
• Printable Version for those who prefer pen on paper
• Worksheets Only for those on a budget or who prefer not to print the extras

I couldn’t be more excited about using this Guidebook, and I truly hope it helps others live their most intentional and on-purpose year yet. If you’re interested in purchasing your copy, check out them out on our Etsy Shop.

Action is the foundational key to all success

Pablo picaso

-Sarah