How to Set Yearly Goals

Here’s the thing about yearly goals: if you can’t see them, you probably won’t hit them. Most people start January full of ambition, scribble a few resolutions in a tiny notebook, and then…life happens. By March, those goals are buried under a pile of emails, school schedules, and grocery lists.

If you’re serious about making this your year—the year you finally start that business, hit the trail for that big race, or actually take the trips you keep daydreaming about—you need a system that keeps your goals loud, proud, and in your face. That’s why we built Big A## Calendars—so your year can’t sneak past you unnoticed.

Think Bigger (Literally)

Setting yearly goals isn’t about cramming more to-dos onto your list—it’s about deciding what really matters to you and making it impossible to ignore. When you can see your whole year in one giant, wall-filling view, things click. Suddenly, the big picture isn’t abstract anymore. You see where your time goes. You see where the gaps are. And most importantly, you see where your goals actually fit.

Our founder, Jesse Itzler, learned this the hard way. He’s the type of guy who’s constantly juggling new business ventures, crazy endurance challenges, family adventures—you name it. He needed a way to see everything at once, and a standard little planner wasn’t cutting it. So he blew the year up—literally—into one massive wall calendar. And once he could see it all, he could finally plan his life with clarity and purpose.

Map It, Don’t Just Dream It

Here’s the secret: writing a goal down isn’t enough. You need to map it across the months where real life happens. Maybe you want to run your first marathon. When’s the race? How many weeks of training do you need? Where do your long runs fit between work trips and family events?

When your entire year is visible, you can start dropping those milestones and training weeks where they belong. Big goals feel way less intimidating when you see the path laid out in front of you. Instead of some faraway “someday,” your goal is just a series of visible, doable steps, each one staring at you from the wall, ready to be tackled.

Let Your Calendar Call You Out

One of the most underrated parts of yearly goal setting is accountability. Most people make a yearly goal planner and let it fade quietly into the background. That doesn’t work. Your goals should stare you down, challenge you, and hype you up every day.

With our yearly goal planner, there’s nowhere to hide. You’ll see your deadlines creeping closer. You’ll see the weekends you swore you’d use for that side project. You’ll see the vacations you promised yourself—and maybe realize you actually need to schedule them. Our yearly goal planner is a mix of encouragement and a loving kick in the pants.

Celebrate The Heck Out Of Your Progress

Hitting a milestone is more than just checking a box—it’s fuel. When you knock out a goal and get to cross it off in giant ink on your wall, it feels amazing. It’s proof you’re doing the thing.

And the best part comes at the end of the year. Instead of wondering where all the time went, you’ll have a massive, colorful record of every step you took toward your goals. It’s like a highlight reel of the year you decided to go all in.

Your Year Won't Plan Itself

Here’s the truth: time will pass whether you plan it or not. You can either look back at another blurry year or finally take control of the one in front of you. Our giant wall calendar makes that possible—not by giving you more to do, but by giving you the clarity to focus on what matters and the visibility to actually follow through.

So don’t wait for “someday.” Grab your life-size goal map, claim your wall, and map out the year you actually want to live. Make the space. Make the plan. And then go make it happen.

Shop Big A## Calendars and start building your year the way you want—loud, clear, and completely unforgettable.