Where I Started Looking
Okay so I wanted new goals this month but got stuck finding ideas. First I googled stuff like “life goal ideas” but got sketchy listicle sites full of ads. One page claimed “10 goals to become billionaire in 3 months” – yeah right. Felt like digging through trash bins.
My Library Experiment
Next day I walked into our town library. Grabbed three books from self-help section. Two felt super outdated – like recommending faxing resumes to companies. The third had decent prompts but used fancy psychology words that made my head hurt. Librarian suggested their online magazine database which was actually fire. Printed out two practical articles about habit tracking before closing time.
The Friend Test Drive
Texted five friends saying “send me your real goal resources”. Got three replies: Mike recommended a goal-tracking app he’s used since 2020 (but I can’t name it). Sarah shared her handwritten cooking skill template which was gold. Priya sent screenshots of her fitness tracker setup. Way better than random internet junk because I know these people actually walked the talk.
What Finally Worked
Ended up mixing three things that clicked:
- Printed those library articles for morning reads
- Copied Sarah’s template into my bullet journal
- Stole Priya’s habit stack formula (do X after Y routine)
Started small with “drink water before coffee” and “10 pushups after brushing teeth”. After two weeks, this combo actually stuck. Big surprise? My grandma had the best tip of all: she keeps goal ideas scribbled on her fridge whiteboard where she sees it daily. Old school beats digital sometimes.
Weirdest discovery? When I cleaned my garage last week, found my old college goal notebook from 2015 underneath paint cans. Half those goals were trash but two were solid – felt like discovering buried treasure in my own damn house.