The Ultimate Guide for Setting and Achieving Goals

(for busy women juggling work, family, hobbies, and maybe even a small business)

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Let’s face it—being a busy woman with family, work, and personal goals can feel like juggling a million things at once. Add in the desire to chase your dreams or grow your small business, and life can quickly become overwhelming. The key to making it all work? A solid goal-setting system that helps you prioritize and actually achieve those big goals.

In this ultimate guide, I’ll share practical tips for setting and achieving your goals, using some tried-and-true methods, and showing how they’ve worked for me—and other women just like you. Plus, there’s a free planning checklist at the end to help you stay on track!

Step 1: Define Your Big-Picture Goals

Before diving into details, start by asking yourself, “What do I truly want to accomplish in my life?” Whether it’s growing your business, making time for a personal hobby (wanna-be gardener, anyone?), or prioritizing family time, having a clear vision will keep you grounded when things get hectic.

My biggest challenge is balancing business goals around my family. I want to be present with them, so I schedule my business tasks for early mornings before the house wakes up or after my day job, but before my husband gets home. This lets me be with my family during the evenings—and that time is sacred!

My Tip: Take a moment to reflect on what you want most and why.

Step 2: Break It Down with the 12-Week Year

Big-picture goals can be daunting, so the next step is to break them down into manageable chunks. One of my favorite frameworks is The 12-Week Year.

In my post on Mastering the 12-Week Year, I talk about how breaking your year into 12-week cycles can make you more productive and focused. This strategy helps you create actionable steps to get results quickly—no waiting until December to check off those goals.

My Tip: Break your larger goals into smaller 12-week sprints for better focus and faster progress.

Bonus Tip: If you haven’t read The 12 Week Year, I highly recommend it! We are just wrapping up reading this book with our book club, and it’s been a great asset to our members. I’ve been following this philosophy for almost a year now, and have definitely accomplished more of the behind-the-scenes projects/tasks than I would have without using this method. I consider that a huge win!

Step 3: Prioritize with MoSCoW or the Eisenhower Matrix

Once you have your goals, it’s time to prioritize them. It’s easy to get pulled in a million directions (especially when life throws curveballs), so having a system to prioritize is crucial. There are multiple ways to “do” prioritization, but here are a couple that I have used:

MoSCoW Method: This approach categorizes tasks into Must do, Should do, Could do, and Won’t do. It’s perfect when you’re overwhelmed and need to focus on the essentials.

Eisenhower Matrix: This time management tool helps you sort tasks by urgency and importance. It’s ideal for avoiding distractions and spending time on the things that truly matter.

Both methods are great options for busy women juggling multiple roles. Find the one that clicks for you and make it your go-to prioritization tool.

My Tip: For a deep dive into these strategies, check out my posts on Mastering Prioritization with the MoSCoW Method and Mastering Time Management: The Eisenhower Matrix.

Step 4: Build Habits for Success

Goals aren’t just about what you want to achieve, but about how you achieve them. Habits are the backbone of progress. I talk about this in The Atomic Power of Habits, where I show how small, consistent actions can make a huge impact.

Personal tip: I schedule self-care—like meeting a friend for coffee—because if it’s not on the calendar, it’s too easy to skip. And that little break helps me keep my sanity when life feels crazy!

My Tip: Focus on building habits that align with your goals, so progress becomes second nature.

Pro Tip: Atomic Habits is a FABULOUS book and is on my TBR list every year. (Meaning that my goal is to re-read it once a year – yes, it is THAT good.)

Step 5: Plan for Success (Monthly & Weekly)

Planning is essential to balancing your goals with daily life. In my article on Organizing Your Month for Success, I talk about how I structure my month with purpose, setting top goals and tracking progress. But planning isn’t just about the long term—your weekly plan is just as important.

My tip: I use a weekly planning checklist to outline my key tasks, then block time for them. This gives me peace of mind and keeps me from getting overwhelmed by everything on my plate.

Freebie Alert: Want to stay organized? Click the button below to get your free weekly planning checklist delivered straight to your inbox!

FREE WEEKLY PLANNING CHECKLIST

Step 6: Overcome Obstacles

Even with the best plans, obstacles will come up. Whether it’s procrastination, family emergencies, or perfectionism, staying flexible is key. A perfect example is my team member, Jennifer. She’s juggling a full-time job, planning a wedding, and running multiple small businesses. After our conference, she set clear goals and has steadily worked toward them, celebrating small wins along the way.

You might not know this about me, but I was a marathon runner. Meaning I ran a marathon. Once. Back in 2015. 🤣 DJ and I had just gotten married in October 2014, and that whole first year, I spent many early mornings doing my training runs. Saturday mornings were almost always devoted to the long run. It took a lot of time and a lot of commitment – and not just from me, but from my newly blended family too. Whatever the goal is, I find that it’s easier to overcome obstacles that come my way when I have the support of my family – so communication is key as well. They knew this was important to me and supported me in my efforts. Keep reading to learn more about community and accountability. 😉

Another Fun Obstacle Story 🐝

This summer, I’ve been tackling some yard projects and recently decided to clear out leaves and vines from a part of our property we’ve barely touched in the past decade. While working, I’d occasionally disturbed some yellow jackets but managed to avoid trouble by staying alert and moving on quickly.

However, one day, I had no warning before stumbling upon a yellow jacket nest. Suddenly, I was swarmed by more than a few of these angry insects! 😱 I ended up with SEVEN painful stings. Let me tell you, yellow jacket stings are no joke—I definitely don’t recommend provoking them!

I’ll return to that area eventually, but for now, I’m shifting my focus to other projects. Sometimes, obstacles force us to take a detour. And that’s perfectly okay! Just remember, if you face a challenge, don’t let it completely derail your goals. Instead, find a new path and keep moving forward. 🌟

My Tip: When you hit a wall, focus on one small step forward. Even tiny progress is progress!

Step 7: Reflect and Adjust

Reflection is a powerful tool in goal setting. At the end of every 12 weeks (and at the end of each week, when I was willing to be honest with myself), I spend time in my BuJo, writing out my thoughts and reviewing what worked, what didn’t, and where I need to pivot.

This reflection period is crucial to staying on track and avoiding burnout. It helps you adjust your goals based on real-life experience, not just the plan you made months ago.

My Tip: Schedule regular reflection to celebrate wins, adjust goals, hold yourself accountable, and keep moving forward.

Step 8: Stay Accountable (Join Our Community!)

Accountability is a game-changer when it comes to goal-setting. In our community, we host weekly “Plan with Me” sessions where members share what they’re working on and get support. It’s an amazing way to stay on track, get inspiration, and feel part of something bigger. As I mentioned earlier, having the support of my family when I was training for a marathon was so important. Let us be your support system while you are working on your goals!

My Tip: Join our free planning community and start crushing your goals alongside a supportive group of women. Click the button below to join us!

JOIN THE CHAOS COORDINATOR COMMUNITY

Achieving your goals isn’t just about hard work—it’s about working smarter with systems and tools that fit your busy life. From the 12-Week Year to powerful habits, effective prioritization, and accountability, you’ve got everything you need to make real progress.

Take it one step at a time, celebrate the small wins, and don’t forget to reflect and adjust as you go. You’ve got this, and I’m here to help!