2021 Goal Crushing Planners
We bought and reviewed eleven different planners to help you find the one that best meets what you are looking for. For starters, this is not a review of simple calendar only based planners. This is not a review of pretty things or status things. No way – this is a real world review of a planner for goals, for prioritizing, for productivity and brilliance. Because a simple leg up in being more focused and more effective is a part of your equation of being successful in your journey.
***This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. To read more about our disclosures, click here. We won’t refer you to things we haven’t tried ourselves, and especially when it comes to goals, we have tried these ourselves.
Here is a bit of an upfront truth you need to understand before you read any further: a planner is not going to make you successful. Remember in high school when you envied the gal in that class that did a great job of organizing her notes in econ or trig class and carried four different notebooks and 12 different color pens/markers and you assumed she got As in every class. THIS IS NOT THAT. That may have worked for that purpose but getting your first job out of college or being successful in that job takes a different set of skills. A planner can help but it can’t do the work. A planner can give you focus but a planner can’t raise your hand in a meeting to volunteer for a new project. A planner can make sure that what you said you were going to do, that you do it. A planner can bring you clarity. A planner can help you work through a set back or point out trends in your productivity. You don’t need a planner, but it can be a really helpful tool.
The planners we reviewed can almost all be purchased on Amazon. We have some we think are worth checking out and can be bought online but not on Amazon. Below are our thoughts on each in the form of a pro vs. con list including our photos so you get to see what we think about what you’re thinking of spending $15-$80 on. Trust us – we know that is a lot of money to invest in some paper.
We found most of these journals by looking on Amazon at a lot of different products. The two journals, My Next 90 Days by Savor Beauty and the 2021 Goal Planner by Christy Wright we wanted to review as we have had some exposure to these products before deciding to write this blog post. After we had been looking for planners we started being marketed planners across all platforms and we came across the Commit 30 planner, which also has a digital planner as a separate purchase; we also found the Cultivate What Matters planner. A couple of the planners we have used before like the ‘My Next 90 Days self care planner’ which Melanie really likes. Funny thing – you might think it’s a self-care planner, and while that’s a component it’s not the main point.
So here’s what we reviewed from these planners – the good, the bad, the ugly.
100 Day Goal Journal
I’m really enjoying this journal. Its not a normal journal and that’s what I love about it. This journal is likely best for you if there is a goal you have personally or professionally that requires serious focus. For instance, if you wanted to eliminate sugar from your diet, this planner would help you do that. It lays out a framework to visualize your goal, gives you the opportunity to reflect and even rank how you’re doing on that goal. I’ve never used something like this before and honestly I’m working to use it now on a goal of mine with weight loss.
Click here to purchase this journal.
Law of Attraction – Freedom Mastery
The law of attraction planner is thick. It’s full of tools, worksheets, notes pages, and daily planner pages that step through your day. The very beginning of this planner actually takes your through exercises about the “Law of Attraction” that the planner is based on. The creator shares their story and it is inspiring. This planner can really be a constructive and productive way of getting stuff done. The version we checked out was hard cover with a soft leather feel and was very visually appealing.
Some things I didn’t love about it include: 1) it’s thick, like real thick, and I can’t imagine carrying it around in a thin bag for very long; 2) the daily planner pages give you the chance to identify your state of mind or mood but the images are clearly male – kind of a bummer; (see below)
3) there is a lot squeezed into each page and it’s kind of cramped; and finally 4) it doesn’t lay flat to write in, which means it doesn’t stay open and may not write all the way to the seam.
This is a good planner but it seems like it might be in the beta testing phase and could use some refinement still.
Click here to purchase this planner.
2021 Goal Planner by Christ Wright
This thing is beautiful. The hard covers protect the thing and it’s sturdy – it could probably survive a tank blast. The planner itself has a guided intro for goal and intention setting. Beyond that however it’s a normal planner in that you have mostly weekly schedule pages and not much else. The major down side of this is its size and weight. Melanie has admitted she will never take it anywhere with her – which in her terms means it won’t be used since she travels about 60% of the time when it’s not COVID.
I have faith this product will improve in perhaps a 2.0 version. I’d wait to see if this is more user friendly in a future version. We love Christy Wright and what she’s doing for women and this planner may work for some, but having spent the money for one for each of us, eh… I wouldn’t just yet. Lets see what 2022 brings.
Click here to purchase this planner.
My Next 90 Days by Savor Beauty
I first learned about this planner at a work conference my company hosted specifically for women. I heard multiple women reference that they use this tool. I’ve now purchased at least three for myself AND I bought a group of about four women each one in a mentoring group I head at work.
First, this planner has all the necessary items for a regular planner including day planning pages built into a week. It is not for daily planning mind you – it’s for quarterly goal planning and tracking. I love this planner – I needed it when I found out about it. I wasn’t doing anything to take care of myself and I was giving 70 hours a week to work. I wasn’t being a good sister, friend, coworker, or girlfriend. This planner brought perspective to my life. It taught me the obvious lesson – you have to take care of yourself in order to take care of others.
This planner lets you focus on the important things while scheduling self care into your regular routine. It builds pages for reflection, it includes daily places for “planting seeds” and “pulling weeds”. It’s a thoughtful approach to blending a feminine approach and an executive type experience to prioritization. Maybe I don’t want to show the details of this planner (including my work out schedule, massages, facials, soaking baths, and other self care routines) to my boss or coworkers, but it keeps the full priorities, including self care, front and center.
Click here to purchase this planner.
The Phoenix Planner
Y’all this might be my new favorite planner. I’m shocked about it too. Why am I shocked you ask? Because it’s thick, it’s heavy, it doesn’t lay completely flat, it’s hardcover and it’s six months in a single book. But I tell you all the things that aren’t great so I can tell you what I like.
What I like about it is the structure. Each week starts with a planning a reflection page. The week planning pages include spots for 4 goals and notes or tasks lists under each goal. Gals – if you had the ability to have that clarity going into a week can you imagine how incredible that could go? The planner then includes daily pages that include times for appointments. I don’t care about that because honestly by life is run by my Outlook calendar for work and it’s all electronic. What I love though is the key actions section each day, boxes to write down your focus area for that day, and a box for gratitude. It also includes a space to document your victories and areas to improve.
Click here to purchase this planner.
Commit 30 Planner
This planner you can purchase on its own or you can buy an electronic version only. The electronic version we tested requires an app and of course some type of tablet that allows you to write on what is essentially a pdf.
This planner has some nice features to it, including habit tracking throughout each month and monthly goals with action plans. The layout is easy to use.
BUT – this might be the most expensive planner we picked out. The electronic version is a nice option if you don’t want a separate paper book to carry around or potentially lose. We aren’t in the business of telling companies how they should price their products and their main audience may think this is the right price point. It’s a quality, well though out planner. However, most of our readers are younger and may still even be in college. While you, our reader, may have the ability to spend $60 on a planner or feel it’s an investment and thus are going to pay more attention to it – go for it. For most of you though we would suggest that this is a nice planner but not worth the cash money you pay for it. If anything – spend the money for the electronic version first and test it out for your personal use. If you like the layout then go for it.
Click here to purchase this planner. Or, click here for the digital version.
Cultivate What Matters [Powersheets® Planner]
The Cultivate What Matters planner is a beautiful thing. I would be comfortable having this planner on my desk. It’s a large ring binder so it easily lays flat. This planner is not for the faint of heart – it has a life evaluation, exercises designed to outline your legacy, a vision board and a place to map your yearly goals. Also… there are stickers and you can use them in your planning.
The Cultivate What Matters planner is designed around a flower blooming. The cultivation, tending and growth themes are really beautifully presented in the planner. This is not a daily list manager planner – it’s an annual goal planner. You couldn’t go through and place your daily goals or track them like in other planners we’ve reviewed. BUT this is a great guide for your year. If you want a book you look at every Friday/Saturday/Sunday of the month to remain focused on your bigger goals I think this is such a beautiful planner. If you buy this planner make sure you watch the intro video on their site.
This planner was also not cheap. Unless you have extra money sitting there and you really want to splurge on this item I’d say it’s just as nice to have $79. With that said, this brand is really inspiring to us – they are centered and focused in faith and are really positive. They have many resources on their site and we are really impressed. We’ll be following what they are doing.
Click here to purchase this planner.
Zig Ziglar Planner
This planner is called the Performance Planner. It’s a normal 8 ½ x 11 sized book that is about a half inch thick. It’s a leather feeling book, an almond brown color. This planner is a weekly calendar planner setup and includes things like a daily schedule, to do list, and weekly goals.
I had some pretty high hopes for this planner. The planner costs a pretty penny but you’re buying a widely known brand with the Ziglar name. This planner is good – but I wouldn’t say it’s great. It has some neat features, like starting out with a balance priorities activity. However, it is very different from what we’ve reviewed in other planners. It is nice that it’s thin and light weight but it is not feminine. The planner is something I would likely see a man in his mid-40s in a romantic comedy drop on the ground
If you work in a law firm or a financial firm with older men and you are trying to find ways to connect with them, buy this planner and read up on Zig Ziglar. Otherwise, I’m not sure we recommend this for our general audience.
Click here to purchase this planner.
Leaders In Heels Power Planner
The planner starts out exactly how you want it to, with a statement from the creator saying, “This is the planner I’ve always wanted.” I can say looking through this rather thick small book that it is the planner I always wanted. It’s a goal getter kind of book. I only wish it was larger pages and laid flat better.
The planner starts with dreaming, defining things like your legacy and your self-care. The goal planning sheets in this thing are wonderful. The project list pages will change your life if you’re looking for ways to get better at seeing the road ahead. Truly – as a past “project manager” these pages for non-experts are really great. The planner gives you the chance to work with quarterly and monthly planning while working through the weekly and daily items. A small thing, but an opportunity for me since the planner has a master to-do list. It’s just pages and pages of lines to write down to-dos and check them off once done. WONDERFUL!
This beautiful thing also wasn’t cheap. The version I ordered is leather hard cover, sturdy and I even got the option to have my name pressed with gold looking print on the outside of the planner. You would use this thing all year so I certainly feel it is worth it.
This ships from Australia so if you want something in America with a low carbon footprint and quickly, this is not the planner for you. I didn’t realize this until after I ordered the thing. So….just keep that in mind. I’m hoping they link up with a printer and distributor here in the USA so it is available through, say, Amazon. I can hope anyway.
Click here to purchase this planner.
Vertellis Chapters
Just to be clear ahead of time, this is a journal and not a planner. There are no calendars or places to write down your to-do list. However, this is a great journal. At first glance I was confused by the chapters, but it is all for your benefit. This journal is all about personal growth and helping you to take time for you in the society where we are always going. There are not dates so if you miss a day (which seems to happen to me) you do not have to feel like you’ve failed and just give up. This journal really allows you to reflect on the day you just had and helps you to focus on different aspects of your life. For instance, the first chapter is about “Influencing Your Luck”. One of the main assignments in this chapter is to focus on your happiness and doing things that you will be grateful for throughout the week. These assignments throughout the journal help you to go into the world and do things that are going to make your life easier or make your happier. Besides the assignments which appear about once a chapter, each day also provides a place to discuss what you are grateful for, what is going well, what could be better, and a reflection of your day. While you may think, “Why do I need this journal when I could just think about those things without it?” Well, you would be missing so much of the self-improvement aspect. This journal is all about you and helping you be who you want to be.
Click here to purchase this journal.
Legend Planner
“Create a Legendary Life” is the saying of this hard-cover, undated planner. It’s set-up has questions and goal set-up at the beginning. Then it has a monthly calendar (separate from the weekly calendar) and provides a space for you to write that month’s goals. At the end of the month, it leaves you a space to reflect on the month asking questions like ‘what areas of my life were lacking this month?’ and ‘how can I improve next month?’. Next, the section with the weekly calendar gives you ample space to write out your schedule. Then it also gives you a different spot to write a work to-do list and a personal to-do list. Even the weekly calendar is focused on goals. There’s a spot to write down your main goal for the week and a place for you to write down your habits and track them. I really like this habit tracker because it really motivates me to work out and things like that. Then at the end of the week it gives you space to reflect on what went well that week and how next week can be better. This planner also comes with stickers which are always fun and can be helpful if that’s what you like! This goal setting planner helps you to identify what your goals are and then work to meet those goals each week or each month. The small size also makes it easy to take with you wherever you go!
Click here to purchase this planner.
