It’s a few weeks into the new year. If you’re like many, you have new goals that go along with the start of the year (even though you can set goals at any time of the year). A few weeks into the new year, you might find yourself losing focus on your goals as life and work get in the way. Don’t worry. You can find that focus again and make things happen. I’m sharing 6 tips to help working moms reach their goals this year.
Why am I talking about this?
As someone who researches, writes, and speaks about work-life balance, why talk about tips to help you focus on your goals? As a working mom who wants a more balanced lifestyle, it’s helpful to know where to put your time and energy. Set resolutions or goals to know what to focus on. Once you set your goals, the question becomes how to achieve those goals over time this year.
Break it all down into smaller goals and tasks
Whether you write down big goals that you break down into smaller bites or small goals that add up to bigger goals over time, break all goals down. Small, consistent steps and effort over time help you achieve bigger goals and make big changes. Plus, you can build momentum over time, potentially helping you reach those goals and do it faster.
Create specific, measurable goals
Are you too broad when you set your year-long goals? Do you struggle with actually reaching your goals? When it comes to tips to help working moms reach their goals, let’s start with one of the most important aspects of goal-setting. You want to create S.M.A.R.T goals. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely goals. Goals aren’t about the big-picture effort (use intentions for that). They are about laser focus.
Don’t say, “Lose weight.” Instead say, “Lose 2 pounds each month.” Don’t put a goal of bigger clients. Say you want to work with one 5-figure client per quarter.
If you work on a team, consider what you want to achieve professionally. Talk to your manager or senior leader to make SMART goals at work as well. That way you know what you’re being measured against. Know how you want to measure yourself and how others will measure you so you can efficiently use your efforts and energy. (Hint: On this specific topic, Carla Harris, author of Expect to Win and managing director and senior client advisor at Morgan Stanley, suggests talking to your manager and/or senior leadership a year before you think you’re ready to be promoted. That way you know what to measure for that year and what knowledge, skills, and experiences you need to have.
Embrace the right mindset
If you look at your goals and think they are too big or unreachable, you’re right. Of my tips to help working moms reach their goals, mindset if one of the most important. You also want them realistic for a year of work so that you actually can reach them. And yes, I do believe in BHAGs (big, hairy, audacious goals), but I’m talking the usual types of goals you might set for a year.)
Get yourself into the mindset of being ready to make it happen! Understand that you can attract the right clients or network. Focus on what you want more of. Don’t wait for things to simply happen; they rarely do.
Talk to your network about what you want to achieve and give people the chance to help you make connections, suggest resources or tools, etc. Talk to your manager, team members, mentors, and sponsors about the type of opportunity you want. When you start to let everyone know what you’re looking for, you’ll start seeing more of those opportunities pop up.
Think that is too woo-woo? Think about it this way. An old manager of mine who had not even a little bit of a woo-woo side described it as you start to make small adjustments to get to your goals when you truly articulate what you want. Each year he did a PowerPoint as the year started with his year-long goals. It was his private document that he didn’t share (he told me about the process, though). Consider all those small shifts that can get you to achieving your goals.
Maximize your time
If you’ve heard me on a podcast or read any of my previous books, you know that I feel strongly that work-life balance doesn’t have a formula. There is no guaranteed way to do things. One formula I do often share is how to maximize your time. Ultimately, so much of work-life balance is being more intentional with your time. Think about maximizing your time and energy this way:
Maximizing your time = time management + productivity + staying on task
Plan and control your time (time management) + be productive with your work and personal time (productivity) + stay focused (stay on task). You need all of these things to work together to maximize your time and truly be intentional with your time and energy. Often, people leave out the staying on task part and focus only on time management and/or productivity. Think of it this way. If you’re trying to work and get distracted regularly by people or social media, are you really maximizing your time? Chances are that you’re not, which shows how much the focus piece matters.
And this approach can help you at work and at home. It will likely look different, so be open to applying it how it makes sense in the different areas of your life.
And without maximizing your time, how will you have the time and energy to work on your goals this year?
Get rid of bad behaviors and habits that don’t serve you
To maximize your time and energy, leave the stuff that didn’t serve you last year. As part of the Steady, Stop, Start model, figure out what held you back. It’s really hard to reach your goals if things you are actively doing are holding you back. Consider what is no longer working for you and get it out of your life. Recognize negative patterns and stop this behavior.
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, talks about replacing bad habits with good habits if you’re trying to make a change. As you think about last year, think through what was missing. Is there a potentially good habit that you can start that will replace a bad habit? Or maybe hold steady the good stuff that worked for you last year. Or embrace these habits that supported you even more.
It’s a whole lot easier to make things happen as a working mom when your family is on board. Let them know your goals. They might be able to keep you accountable or even help you reach your goals. If nothing else, they can be there to cheer you on, especially in those moments when you lose steam. Yep, it happens to everyone at some time in the process of trying to reach new goals.
Reward yourself
Don’t forget to celebrate and reward yourself along the way. Reward yourself for achieving goals and for consistency over time. So often we move on to the next thing on the list without rewarding our successes, big and small.
Reward yourself with something meaningful that makes sense and matches your level of effort. Something too small and it’s not motivating enough. Something too big and you’re giving yourself a big reward when it should be something smaller. (No going to Tahiti for working out consistently for a month.) Only you know what will truly motivate you and reward you in a meaningful way for what you’ve achieved.
I’ve shared my 6 tips to help working moms reach their goals, so what helps you achieve your goals? And what are your goals for this year? What changes will you make?
Want to make changes related to work-life balance this year but don’t know where to start? Consider downloading a copy of my Know Your Why Guide.
