Goal Setting Workbook: Free Questions to Define What Success Looks Like

A goal setting workbook is a short set of questions you answer before you start, so that "I want to change" becomes a specific goal, a clear picture of success and one small daily action. Below is a free, copyable workbook in seven sections. Set aside 20–30 minutes, answer in full sentences, and keep your answers somewhere you'll see them again on Day 10, Day 20 and Day 40.

It's designed for a 40 day challenge, but it works for any goal with a clear time frame.

How to use this workbook

• Write, don't just think. Writing forces vague ideas into concrete words.
• Be honest, not impressive. Nobody else needs to read this.
• One goal at a time. If you have five goals, do the workbook for the one that matters most right now.
• Revisit it. The review section at the end is what turns a plan into learning.

Copy the questions below into a notebook, a notes app or your goal tracker.

Section 1: Vision — what do you want?

1. In one sentence, what do I want to be different in my life?
2. Which area of life does this belong to (health, learning, work, relationships, money, mindset, home)?
3. If this goal went really well, what would a normal day look like six months from now?
4. Is this goal something I want, or something I think I should want?
5. What's one word that describes how I want to feel when I've made progress?

Tip: if your answer to question 1 contains "more" or "better" ("exercise more", "be a better reader"), you'll make it specific in Section 3.

Section 2: Your why — why does it matter now?

6. Why does this matter to me — and why now, not last year or next year?
7. What has it cost me not to have this already?
8. Who else benefits if I make progress?
9. When I've tried this before, why did I stop?
10. On a hard day around Day 15, what reminder would keep me going?

Your answer to question 10 is worth writing on the first page of your journal. The middle of a challenge is where most people quit, and a written reason is easier to hold on to than a feeling. (More on that in how to stay motivated through the middle of a challenge.)

Section 3: The Day 40 picture — what does success look like?

This is the most important section. "Success" needs to be something you could recognize on a specific day.

11. On Day 40, what will I have done? (Example: "read about 400 pages", "walked after dinner on most days.")
12. On Day 40, what will be easier than it is today?
13. What would "good enough" look like — not perfect, but a clear win?
14. What would "amazing" look like?
15. How will I measure progress along the way: a checkmark, a number, a short note, or a mix?

Write both a "good enough" and an "amazing" version. Most people set only the amazing version, then feel like they failed when they reach the good one.

Vague goal	Day 40 success picture
Get fit	Walked 30 minutes on at least 30 of 40 days and can climb stairs without stopping
Read more	Finished two books, reading 10 pages most nights
Be less stressed	Did a 5-minute evening wind-down on most days and wrote one line about my mood

Section 4: Obstacles and if-then plans

Plans fail at predictable moments. Naming those moments in advance — and deciding what you'll do — is one of the most practical habits in goal setting. Psychologists call these "implementation intentions": simple if X happens, then I'll do Y plans.

16. What are the three most likely things that will get in the way?
17. For each one: If ___ happens, then I will ___.
18. What is the smallest version of my daily action I could do on a terrible day?
19. What will I do the day after I miss a day? (See what happens if you miss a day.)

Examples:

• If I get home after 9 pm, then I'll read two pages instead of ten.
• If it's raining, then I'll do a 15-minute workout video at home instead of walking.
• If I miss a day, then the next day I'll do the smallest version and write one line about what happened.

Section 5: Your daily action

A goal is a direction. A daily action is what you actually do. If this step feels hard, break the big goal into small daily actions first.

20. What is the one action I'll take every day?
21. How long does it take? (Aim for 5–30 minutes.)
22. When exactly will I do it? Attach it to something I already do ("after I pour my morning coffee…").
23. Where will I do it, and what do I need ready the night before?
24. How will I know I did it? (A checkbox, a number, or one written sentence.)

A good daily action passes the "worst day" test: you could still do it on a day when everything goes wrong.

Section 6: Support

25. Who can I tell about this goal?
26. Who could join me, check in on me, or simply ask "how's it going?"
27. What can I remove from my environment to make the action easier? (A phone in another room, snacks out of sight.)
28. What can I add? (Shoes by the door, a book on the pillow.)
29. How will I celebrate small milestones — Day 10, Day 20, Day 30?

Section 7: Review — check in with yourself

Come back to these questions at the end of each week and again on Day 40.

30. On how many days did I do my action this week?
31. What helped most?
32. What got in the way most often — and does my if-then plan need to change?
33. Is my daily action the right size, or should it grow or shrink?
34. On a scale of 1–10, how much closer do I feel to my Day 40 picture?

On Day 40, add:

35. What did I learn about myself in these 40 days?
36. What will I keep doing?
37. What will my next challenge be? (Need ideas? See what to do after Day 40.)

A one-page version

Short on time? Answer just these five:

1. My goal for the next 40 days is ___.
2. It matters to me because ___.
3. On Day 40, success looks like ___.
4. My daily action is ___, which I'll do after ___.
5. If ___ gets in the way, I will ___.

That's enough to start tomorrow.

FAQ

How long should a goal setting workbook take?

Plan for 20–30 minutes for the full version, or about 5 minutes for the one-page version. The weekly review takes 5–10 minutes.

Should I set more than one goal at a time?

It's usually better to start with one. A single focused goal with one daily action is far easier to finish than three goals competing for the same time and energy.

What if I don't know what success looks like yet?

Write your best guess for "good enough" and treat it as a hypothesis. The weekly review is where you adjust it once you have real days of experience.

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If you'd like these prompts built into your challenge, WholeLifeLog asks goal setting questions at the start and end of each 40 day challenge, right next to your daily plan, log and reflection.