Goal Planning Tips: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at My 2025 Process

I’m so excited you’re here because today, we’re digging into one of my favorite topics: goal planning tips for the new year. I so love this time of year!

Now, I know this topic can feel a little overwhelming. Maybe you’re staring at a long list of goals. You’re not sure where to start with planning. Or maybe you’re not even sure what goals to set. I get it.

In this post, we’ll go behind the scenes of my 2025 planning process. I’ll share what I’ve learned over the years, what I’m doing differently this year, and how you can apply these strategies to your own business.

Just as a little sneak peek. . .I’ve shifted my approach over the years. Instead of focusing only on larger goals, I’ve developed a system that’s more actionable, strategic, and—let’s be honest—less stressful.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using this link. For more information, see my full disclaimer here.

Prefer to listen? Check out this episode of the podcast: 2025 Business Planning and Goal Setting: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at My Process

Rethinking Annual Goals

I want to start off by sharing my thoughts on annual goals. Here’s the thing. Annual goals are tricky.

How many times have you set a big, ambitious goal in January only to realize by June that you’re way off track?  Or that the goal doesn’t even make sense anymore? Yeah, been there.

Now don’t get me wrong. I do think that long-term goals are important. You need to have a target to shoot for.

But for 2025, I’m going to do something a little different.

Instead of focusing on the outcome – or only on outcomes—like hitting a specific number I’m going to focus on the actions I can control.

For example, instead of saying, “I want to grow my membership by 20%,” I’ll set goals around the activities that will help me get there, like improving my email funnels or consistently promoting the membership (which frankly I haven’t been great at doing in the past).

I‘ll still have a few numbers goals. Revenue, for example. I always think you need to have a revenue goal. And I’ll have an expense ratio benchmark because controlling expenses is important to me.

Another of my number goals for 2025 is word count. Now this is something I’ve actually done for several years, sort of a side goal, but it’s going to be one of my main KPIs this year – one of my main key performance indicators.

And let me explain why. The main thing I do in my business is create content. That might be podcast episodes, writing blog posts like this one, creating course content, writing emails, posting on social media, etc. Everything boils down to content.

So, a few years ago, I was trying to think of a single overarching metric I could track to make sure I was doing the right things in my business. Something simple. And I landed on word count. I track it every day in a simple spreadsheet.

The goal my first year was to average 1,000 words a day. 30,000 words a month. That felt like a bit of a stretch, but it felt doable as well. I didn’t quite hit it the first year, but I did the second.

This year, 2024, my goal is 500,000 words. Half a million. That’s a big increase and it felt like a big stretch when I set it. But I’m proud to say that I hit that goal about a week ago, with plenty of time to spare.

I’m going to stick with 500,000 words for 2025. Because I know that as long as I’m publishing content, I’m making consistent forward movement in my business.

The Power of Process Goals

Goals like this keep me focused on the process, rather than the results. And let’s be honest, results often take longer than we’d like. But the actions? Those are 100% within our control.

A few other process goals that I’m setting in 2025 are X number of marketing campaigns for my own offers. Probably 36, but I haven’t nailed the number down yet. And that will include at least one promo per quarter for my membership. I actually need to set that as a sub-goal just to make sure that I do it.

I may have a goal of a certain number of Instagram posts. See how I’m not focusing on the number of followers, or reach, or engagement – any of those kinds of things? I can’t control those, but I can absolutely control how many times I show up.

And then, I’ll probably have a goal related to list-growth. Like one new list-growth activity per month. That could be participating in a collaboration, running a challenge, or simply creating a new content upgrade. I’m still thinking on that one.

So, I’ll end up with five or six annual goals: revenue, expense ratio, word count, # of marketing campaigns, number of Instagram posts, and some number of list-growth activities.

Leverage Data for Smart Decisions

Now, let’s talk about the role of data in planning. Just because I’m not setting outcome-based goals (for the most part), doesn’t mean I’m not using data in the goal-setting process.

If you’re not already tracking key metrics in your business, now is the time to start. Metrics like website traffic, email click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue streams give you the information you need to make smart decisions.

Here’s an example: when I look at my revenue streams, the greatest driver by far, is my membership. It has been for years. But, as I said earlier, I don’t do enough to actively promote it. I mostly rely on evergreen funnels, and I’ve gotten kind of complacent about that.

But that’s something I want to change in 2025. I want to lean in to what’s working. So, I’m setting a goal to run at least one marketing campaign per quarter just for the membership.

Another thing I track as a key metric is my time. I track my time every day in Toggl. I have for years. And it allows me to pull reports that show where I’m spending my time.

When I look at 2024, I can see that I spent 23% of my time on product development, but only 13% on revenue-generating activities. So, I’m creating products, but I’m not promoting them. That data helped me make the decision to set that goal for a certain number of marketing campaigns for the year.

When you rely on data, you can stop guessing and start making informed decisions that move the needle in your business.

Avoid the Busy Work Trap

Let’s shift gears and talk a little bit about busy work. We’ve all been there: spending time on things that feel productive, even if those tasks aren’t actually moving the business forward.

I often find myself spending way too much time creating spreadsheets with complicated formulas. Because I love spreadsheets and playing with them is fun.

But it’s also a classic busy work trap. Sure, having organized data is important, but spending hours perfecting formulas doesn’t bring in new customers. It’s better to focus on activities with a higher ROI—like creating content and nurturing my email list. Those are the activities that will help your business grow.

I’m still tempted to do busy work type things like this, by the way.

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching the new Kristen Bell series on Netflix. I think it’s called Nobody Wants This. Anyway, I started noticing the font that they used for the series title. And I really like that font. And I started thinking I could switch my main display font to that.

But then I put on the brakes. Do I really need to change a font? Is that really going to help my business?  No, it isn’t.

Busy work like this is really just a form of procrastination.

So, here’s my advice: look at your to-do list and ask yourself, “Does this directly support my goals?” If the answer is no, it’s time to let that task go. Running your tasks through the Eisenhower matrix is a good test, by the way

Related: This post talks more about the Eisenhower matrix.

A Side Benefit: Improved Work-Life Balance

Now, let’s talk about one of the biggest perks of this type of goal setting and planning: better work-life balance. I know that you didn’t start your business to work 24/7. Neither did I.

One of the common pitfalls of traditional numbers-based goal setting is focusing solely on outcomes. We’ve talked about this already.

When your sights are set on a specific number, like follower count, or number of new leads, it’s easy to fall into the trap of working more hours, constantly chasing that elusive target.

The problem is those outcomes aren’t fully within your control. Unexpected things happen and the finish line can keep moving.

When you set goals around what you’ll do, like publishing a blog post every week, or reaching out to five leads daily, you create clear stopping points. You can finish the task, shut down your computer, and feel a sense of accomplishment because you know you’ve done the work that moves the needle.

And you can move your work around to fit your life.

For example, last spring, I took over a week off – almost 10 days I think – to go to the beach. This was the first vacation I’ve taken since before the pandemic. It felt risky because I actually had a month-long sales campaign planned and that vacation fell right in the middle.

But before I left, I did as much of the work as possible. I had my sales pages done, my emails written and scheduled. So, while I was at the beach, my business kept running smoothly. Sales came in every day while I was gone.

Embrace Flexibility and Experimentation

Here’s the thing about planning: it’s not set in stone. One of the best lessons I’ve learned is to stay flexible and experiment.

For example, this year, I tested collaborations as a lead generation strategy. I had stopped participating in bundles and summits a couple of years ago and I wasn’t sure how it would go. You know, things change, so I wasn’t sure how it would go. But it ended up being worthwhile and brought in lots of new leads. So, I’ll continue this strategy in 2025.

On the flip side, I also tested a new offer that just didn’t perform as well as I’d hoped. And that’s okay—every experiment is a learning opportunity.

So don’t be afraid to try new things. Just make sure you’re keeping track of what works and what doesn’t so you can adjust as needed.

Related post: Go from Overwhelm to Success with Flexibility in Goal Planning

Execute with 90-Day Planning

Finally, let’s talk about executing your annual plan and making sure your actions stay aligned with goals all year long.

This is where 90-day planning comes in. Instead of trying to tackle everything at once, I break my year into four 90-day chunks. Each quarter, I set specific, project-based goals that align with my broader annual goals.

For example, since one of my annual goals is to promote my membership at least once a quarter, my 90-day goals might include running a sneak peek challenge, offering bonuses, and refreshing my sales page. These smaller goals are actionable, measurable, and realistic. They also foster a sense of urgency to get things done.

And if you’re looking for a tool to help you turn your goals into action plans, I highly recommend my Be a Goal Getter Productivity Workbook & 90-Day Planner.

It’s designed to help you set meaningful goals, map out your next 90 days, and take daily action to execute your plan.

Recap: Goal Planning Tips

Alright, friends, let’s recap the key points from today’s post:

• Focus on actionable, process-based goals rather than outcomes you can’t control.
• Use data to guide your decisions and eliminate guesswork.
• Identify and eliminate busy work so you can focus on high-impact activities.
• Stay flexible and experiment with new strategies to find what works best for your business.
• And execute your annual plan in 90-day chunks.

Your action step for this week is to carve out some time to reflect on your 2024 wins and challenges, then start mapping out your 2025 goals using the strategies we discussed today.

And remember, planning isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress. Take that first step, and let’s make 2025 your best year yet.

Related Posts:

• How To Stick to Your Top Priorities
• How to Plan for a Super Successful Year
• 24 Best Ways to Improve Your Small Business Productivity

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