This 2026 Bullet Journal is the perfect way to sort my thoughts and goals heading into the new year with a bit of creative flair!
I am very excited about 2026. The new year gives me time to recenter my thoughts and wants for myself. There was originally an idea of continuing with my 2025 journal since there was space. But the notebook was a bit heavily loved. I will continue to use it, but the deterioration in the spine makes it less amenable to daily backpack travel.
My impulse buying also contributed to the transition. Window shopping on Amazon is dangerous and typically doesn’t end up being only window shopping. One journal in particular caught my interest for several reasons. The first reason was that the cover was a beautiful design of the sun, the moon, and the stars. It just resonated with me.
The second item of note was the thickness of the pages. These pages ended up being even thicker than I was anticipating. I started checking the page numbers to make sure I wasn’t actually pushing two pages together. The last feature I really liked was the side of the pages. They are very shiny, and I’m a magpie.
Explore the Craft section of MCG for exciting patterns in knits & knots or unique creations in the stitchery. Don’t miss the extensive collection of bullet journal designs to inspire your creativity!
One important thing to establish early on in a new journal is the key explaining the symbols used. I used circles as my main symbol for tasks in 2025, but I decided to switch back to squares because they felt cleaner. And I wouldn’t mix them up with being O’s. The important thing to remember when choosing symbols is that they shouldn’t be easily confused with other things. Something I always want to try to not use as many titles as I usually do. While I put keys around the key, I didn’t title the area. With words, at least.
Year at a Glance
Since it’s a new year, I wanted a year-at-a-glance calendar to highlight the important events throughout the year. It’s also a great reference for keeping the calendar correct when going through the rest of the year. I put an individual color key on this page. In previous years, I tried to do a color key that applied for the whole year, but it was very limiting.
I think having a color key for the places that need a color key makes a bit more sense. The main days I wanted to highlight were anniversaries, appointments, events, birthdays, and holidays.
Level 10 Life
One thing I try to do once, or more, a year is a level 10 life assessment. I like doing this because it helps me step outside of myself and see the areas I can grow. I picked a few categories in areas that I would like to give some attention to when making goals. The classic core category list is:
- Family & Friends: Quality of relationships with loved ones.
- Personal Development (Self): Growth, learning new skills, self-improvement.
- Spirituality: Inner peace, purpose, meditation, or religious practices.
- Finances: Money management, savings, investments, income.
- Career: Satisfaction and progress in your job or business.
- Romance: Your romantic relationship or marriage.
- Fun & Recreation: Hobbies, play, and enjoyment in life.
- Giving & Contribution: How you help others and give back.
- Physical Environment (House): Your home, workspace, and surroundings.
- Health & Fitness: Physical and mental well-being, exercise, nutrition.
I adjusted some of these categories as well as added and subtracted some as well. It’s important to highlight what actually matters to you. Once you pick the categories, it’s time to assess how you feel about each of them. I tried to find a good 1-10 scale to help standardize my judgment, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best possible.
For example, I would probably give me health score of about a 5 right now. I could do more by exercising and watching my diet. Then I have to come up with measurable goals that I think would take me from 5 to 10. And that’s why reevaluation can be really important. The goals I set now might only take me to an 8, and a review might show me what other goals I could set that I may not have been aware of before.
2026 Goals
I also created a page to track some of my goals. Some of these goals definitely fit into my level 10 life categories. And some of the goals just lend themselves to having a tracker. Plus, I love having a visual representation of progress toward a goal. It helps keep me motivated and moving forward.
Personal Bill of Rights
I will always put the personal bill of rights into my journals. It is an important reminder to have on hand. Reading the rights allowed can also really help you accept them. It’s weirdly difficult to say certain phrases out loud. Maybe because I don’t believe I have those rights. Which is all the more reason to have a reminder.
I was very happy that I had a line to write about the Other People’s Bill of Rights. All you have to do is replace “I” with “Other People”. Remembering this can be quite tough as well. Giving grace to yourself as well as others is a virtue I can only hope to achieve with little reminders like these.
Captains Log
One new spread I wanted to try out for 2026 was my “Captain’s Log”. It was the cutest name I could think of for a place where I wanted to record some of the experiences for this year. I wanted a place to track what movies/shows I’ve watched, what games I’ve played (board games and video games), and what books I’ve read.
I thought a major events timeline would be kind of fun. And I needed a place to squeeze in the table of contents. It felt really cool to watch all of these components come together as well. This is another example of trying not to have titles for areas, but their intent is conveyed.
January
I was once again stuck with the challenge of wondering what to theme my monthly spread. This time, I only wanted to do a cover page rather than include a calendar. The cover of my journal inspired me, though, and so I decided to lean into a Tarot card theme. Since January is the beginning of the year, I decided to go with the first of the major arcana: The Fool.
The 22 major arcana represent the journey through life, going from innocence (The Fool) to completion (The World). The fool represents new beginnings, spontaneity, and taking a leap of faith. All feel apt for jumping into the new year and going on this journey.
January Habit Trackers
The habit trackers I wanted to use for January are a little different than what I have used in the past. Previously, I used a grid to keep track of the habits side by side. This time, I decided to isolate the habits to their own individual calendars. I thought this would be a good way to visualize habits on a day-by-day basis.
Another benefit from breaking it out like this was that I was able to create a color key for some of my habits. I know I was curious about how often I practice drumming in comparison to piano, so this approach felt like a clean way to approach that.
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