The 12 Best Goal Setting Journals for 2023

Custom Built Weekly Planner
Customer choice
(5 out of 5 stars)
(5 out of 5 stars)
Read review
Panda Planner
Best overall
(4.8 out of 5 stars)
(4.8 out of 5 stars)
Simple Elephant Planner
Editor's choice
(4.9 out of 5 stars)
(4.9 out of 5 stars)
Clever Fox Planner
(4.6 out of 5 stars)
(4.6 out of 5 stars)
Cossac Planner
(4.5 out of 5 stars)
(4.5 out of 5 stars)
G Planner by Swedall
Best value
(4.4 out of 5 stars)
(4.4 out of 5 stars)
The Growth Planner
(4.6 out of 5 stars)
(4.6 out of 5 stars)
Prettysweeeet Planner
(4.0 out of 5 stars)
(4.0 out of 5 stars)
Bullet Journal by Lemome
(4.5 out of 5 stars)
(4.5 out of 5 stars)

Planners are an essential part of our lives, especially when it comes to setting goals. A goal setting journal or a planner may come in various designs meant to meet the different needs of the demanding users. Most of them come with the daily, weekly or monthly calendars with different structures aimed at helping users achieve goals be it short, medium or long-term goals.

Everyone desires some form of self-improvement or aspires to achieve a set of goals in areas of health, career, academics, business and many more. The planner you use can go a long way to make these goals achievable, and this is where the choice of planner comes to play.

Despite the great variety of digital alternatives on our phones and tablets, the traditional planner remains a must-have daily tool for organized lifestyle aimed at higher productivity. The task of goal setting at the beginning of a new year can be well monitored by adhering to set goals every day. The action plan for a day builds up into a week and then a month. Journal writing sees the step by step actualization of set goals, all thanks to goal setting journals.

There are some factors to consider when setting goals. They can also help you choose the right planner that would fit your needs. Teachers, students, and parents are likely to go for an August to September planner which is different from the usual January to December calendar most people go for.

It is essential to take into account if you are going need to carry your planner around with you or it will stay at one place most of the times - be at home or at work. The size and weight matter if you need to move them around. You need to take a careful look at what features are critical to you and find the right planner that fit your needs and help you set and accomplish the ambitious goals.

To help you come up with the optimal choice, check these 5 goal setting journals we recommend:

Custom Built Weekly Planner

(5 out of 5 stars)

Set goals, keep track of everything and achieve new accomplishments with the Custom Built Weekly Planner.

It offers great versatility and convenience when it comes to planning your tasks and appointments. The planner features first-class materials such as thick 100gsm paper, sturdy spiral made of steel and a very durable cover.

Why is it called custom built? Because you can customize the dates, the start day of the week and even the cover design including the text it features.

The pages are powered with the nice productivity-driven layouts that you can use for easy planning to stay on top of your schedule.

Overall, great notebook for efficient goal setting and planning.

Pros
  • You can choose the cover design and dates of the planner
  • Thick paper
  • Made of durable materials that will last
Cons
  • No signiifcant cons

Product details

Number of pages Paper weight Cover type Size
146 100 gsm Hardcover 5.5" X 8"

Panda Planner

Read reviews
(4.8 out of 5 stars)

The Panda Planner is a productivity planner claimed to be designed based on a scientific approach. Thousands of Panda Planners customers admit that the journal helps them to increase productivity and become happier. The daily journal aims to strike a balance between work and life, not just meeting goals that may not turn into 100% satisfaction in the long run.

Do you often find yourself procrastinating? Then this is a good planner that can help you keep moving forward instead of putting important things off. Its layout will help you break big goals into smaller ones and approach new accomplishments easier.

It also organizes everything in multiple to-do lists so it's easy for you to keep track of everything you need to get done to get closer to the goals you set out to achieve. The planner also comes with some perks such as 7 FREE eBooks and a video mini-course to 10x your productivity. It’s a good purchase that you won't regret.

Pros
  • The ability to express your feelings and abstract from the routine.

  • High-quality thick paper and hard cover.

Cons
  • Many users complain about the duration of planner and discrepancy between the amount of time in daily (90 days), weekly (16 weeks) and monthly (6 months) sections.

Product details

Number of pages Paper weight Cover type Size
224 120 gsm Hardcover 5.25'' x 8.2''

Simple Elephant Planner

Read reviews
(4.9 out of 5 stars)

Simple. Beautiful. Actionable.

Simple Elephant Planner is to make you feel happier through a smart system of affirmations, goal-setting, and gratitude. It offers a wide range of helpful features like mindmap and vision board, habit tracker and sets of colorful stickers that you can use to personalize the planner. The classic daily and weekly layout is perfect to plan and manage your agenda and get things done on time.

Speaking of quality, the planner is made of high-quality materials and customers rarely complain about any issues. 

The planner has thick paper 100gsm, durable soft leatherette hardcover, bookmarks and is available in 4 colors. An important feature for people who love planning: Simple Elephant covers the whole year.

Pros
  • Great set of helpful features
  • Vision board and mindmap
  • Arrives in an elegant gift box
Cons
  • No significant cons

Product details

Number of pages Paper weight Cover type Size
256 110 gsm Hardcover 5.9" x 8.3"

Clever Fox Planner

Read reviews
(4.6 out of 5 stars)

One of the most popular and efficient goal-setting journals is Clever Fox planner. This productivity tool has a great set of features and professionally designed content that helps to set goals and achieve them easily.

The planner is made of first-class materials and has a beautiful look with a variety of cover colors to choose from.

The planner offers a great system that helps you avoid stress, stay organized, keep track of everything and stay always satisfied with your accomplishments.

The planner works great for students, teachers, entrepreneurs and professionals from different spheres.

Overall, a great goal-setting journal to make 2024 your most productive year yet.

Pros
  • Various cover designs
  • Very thick paper
  • Great set of pages for daily planning
Cons
  • No significant cons

Product details

Number of pages Paper weight Cover type Size
192 120 gsm Hard cover 5.8'' x 8.3''

Cossac Planner

Read reviews
(4.5 out of 5 stars)

Cossac Daily Planner is a 6-month undated planner which has 272 pages. The good thing about this planner is that it allows you to start using the planner at any point of the year. Unlike dated planner that often makes you skip a few pages leave a part of the planner unused, Cossac Planner makes sure you get the most out of the journal.

Overall, it is a good choice for those who prefer a planner for working days on (like Monday to Friday) or those who prefer to skip a few days for some good and sincere reasons.

Just like any other planner, it offers many helpful features that are aimed at accelerating your self-improvement and beating procrastination. To reach your big goals you are welcome to use the system that allows you to break them down into smaller manageable chunks.

Overall, the planner is very well-made, stylish and convenient. It is a good gift idea. So if your friends, colleagues or family like using notebooks, Cossac Planner is worth considering as a small yet useful gift.

Pros
  • High-quality paper
  • Well-designed monthly layouts
Cons
  • Not too much room for your notes and to-do lists

Product details

Number of pages Paper weight Cover type Size
256 100 gsm Hardcover 5.7" x 8.3"

G Planner by Swedall

Read reviews
(4.4 out of 5 stars)

The G Planner is a goal setting journal that is designed to help you break down your long-term goal into monthly, weekly and daily achievable goals. The G planner is best for someone working toward improving self-motivation that, as we all know, is invaluable when it comes to keeping moving forward the set goals. The planner includes such sections as an organizer, positive affirmations, gratitude journal, daily agenda, goal setting and tracking sections, to-do list and many other features that will make you enjoy the planner.

The design comes in a 5.5 x 8.5 hardcover, the inner paper made of Swedish paper and has elastic closure, pocket, two bookmarks and a pen holder. It comes in two colors - black and pink - and this makes it a perfect fit for men and women, professionals, students, moms, and dads.

Pros
  • Enough room for everything
  • Nice design
  • Durable materials
Cons
  • No significant cons

Product details

Number of pages Paper weight Cover type Size
192 90 gsm Hardcover 5.5'' x 8.5''

The Growth Planner

Read reviews
(4.6 out of 5 stars)

The Growth Planner is a 90-day goal planning journal that has an undated format. This goal diary is made of premium paper, elastic closure strap, 2 color bookmarks and pen holder loop.

It's equipped with everything a good goal journal has to have: goal setting guide, meal plan section, weekly and monthly goals review pages, habit tracker, daily schedule, to-do list and much more.

Just like most of the modern goal planners out there, The Growth Planner offers a holistic approach to goal-setting and guides you all the way to new victories.

Overall, a great goal tracking journal for everyone who wants to improve themselves.

Pros
  • Pocket for keeping paper notes
  • Great value for money
Cons
  • Only 90 days

Product details

Number of pages Paper weight Cover type Size
224 100 gsm Hardcover 5.5" x 8.2"

Prettysweeeet Planner

Read reviews
(4.0 out of 5 stars)

The Prettysweeeet planner is an undated goal and life journal that comes in black gold color. It is designed to help you improve yourself in various spheres: productivity, goal setting, time management, and planning. It helps you maintain positivity throughout the day, every day, and ultimately live a purposeful life full of great and meaningful events.

The Prettysweeeet is a 290-page journal. Thanks to the undated format of the pages, it makes sure you never worry about taking a break and ensure there is no page waste. The planner has a compact size - 5’’ x 8’’. This makes it comfortable for everyday carry.

Each daily page comes with a 19 hours timeline, so you always have enough space to jot down all your appointments and stay on top of your schedule.

Pros
  • Plenty of useful sections
  • Thick paper
Cons
  • Not very durable

Product details

Number of pages Paper weight Cover type Size
290 100 gsm Hardcover 5.8'' x 8.3''

Bullet Journal by Lemome

Read reviews
(4.5 out of 5 stars)

Bullet Journal by Lemome is a goal setting journal that provides a lot of space for your personal creativity. You can keep track of all tasks, goals, appointments and other things that matter. There is also a place where you can keep track of your financials, budget, wish lists, ideas and other things that are unique to you.

Unlike Passion Planner and any other life planner, Bullet journal is flexible to use. Mainly because it doesn't have too many boxes you're supposed to fill out daily. The dot grid pattern of the pages allows to creatively write both horizontally and vertically depending on the layout you need for the notes you take. It also comes with tear-out pages that you can save separately or share with your friends if needed.

The journal features thick environmentally friendly paper. The pages are easy to write on with any pen and make your writing experience comfortable.

Lemome proudly lists the features their journal comes with: it lays flat when open, comes with elastic closure strap and 2 colored bookmarks, has a durable hardcover, pen holder. The size of 5" x 8.3"’ makes it portable enough for carrying around all day long.

Pros
  • Beautiful minimalistic design
  • Functional
  • Great for bullet journaling 
Cons
  • No significant cons

Product details

Number of pages Paper weight Cover type Size
192 90 gsm Hardcover 5" x 8.3"

3 more products you may also like

Pursuit-Goal-Journal

Pursuit Goal Journal

Powered by a scientific approach, this notebook will help you focus on the primary goals and finally achieve the things you've been putting off lately. Its system is to help you develop the habit of doing a little bit each day to progress and keep up the momentum. 

(4.5 out of 5 stars)
best-self-journal

BestSelf Co. The SELF Journal

This diary has become an absolute best seller over the last few years after the successful Kickstarter campaign. And it's no wonder why. It's all about providing you with tools to get motivation and happiness through meaningful journaling. Beautiful design and exceptional quality is a great bonus to the proven system that fosters good habits. 

(4.8 out of 5 stars)
lion-planner

Lion Planner

Looking for an eco-friendly planner to buy? This one is made of durable soft faux leather cover and post-consumer waste recycled paper. Regarding the functionality, Lio Planner has monthly, weekly and daily planning sections that will help you effectively manage both hourly schedule and long-term goals. 

(4.4 out of 5 stars)

Conclusion

If you are someone who likes to write things down the old way and feels that the physical act of writing makes it easier for your to process, digest and memorize information, you have to give these paper planners a try.

These journals make the goal setting simple and turn big challenges of chasing your goals and dreams into an easy task. All because they require you to follow some effortless steps based on the scientific approaches and proven frameworks.

Manage your busy life like a pro and start achieving goals today with the best goal planner!