Are you getting ready for the new year? Have you started looking for planners? For 2026, I decided to get a head start. Especially because December 1st starts on a Monday and that felt magical somehow. It’s an important reminder that we do not need to start at the beginning of the year, the beginning of a month, or even a week. Start whenever it feels best for you. 

As a goal setter and a stationary nerd, I feel like it is my duty to let you into my secret and that is this magical notebook. Cue, glowing light and choir music. The Dream Life Workbook and no this is not a sponsored post (Although, I would love to work with this company, wink). I have purchased this workbook with my own money for the past five years and it is because it offers something unique that your daily planner doesn’t and that is breaking down your big goals into small actionable steps. 

A breakdown of how I use this magical tool 

The first blank page, which is more of a cover tbh. I use it to write down my yearly mantra. It is that one quote or phrase that when times get hard I can keep telling it to myself and push forward. It’s the quote that gets me through those tough days. 

I enjoy the attention to detail. For starters, there is a table of contents. It makes it easier to get to the pages. Also, all the pages are numbered. Again, making it easier to find a page. 

Before you are able to get excited about making new goals. This is one of the reasons why I love this notebook so much. You get to reflect on the previous year. You get to rate that year on a scale of 0-10 and it has prompt questions like: What did you learn this year? What goals did you accomplish? Etc. It has plenty of space for you to reflect on the year. It also has a section where you can rate on a scale of 1-10 how you feel about your health, career, relationships, wellbeing, etc. I love coming back to this page throughout the year and rating myself and always reflecting on where I am in these life categories. 

The next section is working with your dreams and your fears and doubts. First, if nothing was limited to you, what would be your top 10 dreams. Through some exercises and prompts you get to work through these dreams and create a final list of dreams that you have. There are also some pages where you get to reflect on what you are afraid of? What is causing you to self sabotage? What is causing the negative self talk? I didn’t use them the first time I purchased the notebook but slowly throughout the years, they have become a staple for me to work through the negative self talk. 

Once you are done with those exercises you move on to an action step. Although, I do wish this page had more steps for action steps. It is a list of your top 10 goals and action steps you can take. However, it redeems itself by getting to a section that talks about setting yearly goals. I do follow the SMART method for goals. I do love the breakdown and the reminder of that. I enjoy that this section is broken down into categories from finances, career, mental health, etc. 

If you know anything about me, it is how much I believe in creating routines. This workbook has a morning, afternoon, and evening routine. As well as a bucket list set of pages. I love creating lists of movies or shows that I want to watch. After, it goes into a habit tracker. Or at least that’s what I use it for. It can also be a tracker for walking every day, etc. 

Each page is broken down into a monthly page. It has a section to write down your goals and actionable steps to achieve those goals. It also has a weekly overview page, which I find incredible for breaking down those big goals into smaller steps. There is a month in review page with wins and challenges as well as some questions to reflect on the month. What I appreciate is the blank pages at the end where I am able to create my own monthly spreads for whatever I need that month. 

The last pages are for Project Planning. I love creating a plan for Spring Cleaning or creating a plan for the holidays and birthday celebrations, etc. I have found immense creativity with the back blank pages creating categories for specific goals and breaking them down into actionable steps.

The last pages of the notebook are dot pages and blank paper and I have enjoyed it because I am able to create my own pages. I get to create sections like Travel and write a list of places that I want to travel to and also create a checklist, what things do I need to travel there? Is there a budget? I get to get really specific about my goals and break them down into manageable and doable tasks. I love the freedom that I have with the last pages to really make it my own. 

The Downsides 

The Quality of the agenda itself – The binding of the agenda tends to get tarnished throughout the year. I have left it in my desk the majority of the time and I have noticed that the quality goes down. 

The Gold writing and drawing in the cover of the page tend to fade out over time and the quality of it does not last very long. I love going back to these journals and reflecting on the goals I have accomplished which is why I would love it if the quality was there to last a long time and I am able to go back to the agenda. 

Hope you enjoyed this post! Do you have any planners or agendas that you MUST’s? 

Let me know, please. I love discovering new stationary staples. 

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