How to Make a Weekly Plan From Your Annual Goals

Get Organized: How to Make a Weekly Plan from Your Annual Goals

Some of you who are using the Joyful Life Planner have asked how to fit your annual goals fit into a weekly plan so today I’m showing you my process. Of course you should find a system that works for you. but hopefully seeing my plan can give you some ideas.

[UPDATE 2020: This post was written in 2015 so these are my goals from that year, but the principles still apply.]

How to Make a Weekly Plan from Your Annual Goals

Take these steps to break your big goals down into do-able steps you can take action on weekly.

Choose Your Goals for the Year

Each December I make a list of goals that I want to reach for the upcoming year in several areas of my life. This year’s goals looked like this:

My Goals for This Year

My Spirit

Goal: Maintain a close spiritual connection to God.

My Body

Goals: Lose 20 pounds; tone my arms; feel more energetic.

My Marriage

Goal: Enjoy a vibrant relationship with my husband.

My Children

Goal: Maintain a close relationship with each of my children.

My Money

Goals: Pay off medical bills completely. Continue building emergency fund. 

My Home

Goal: Enjoy a peaceful, clutter free space.

My Business

Goals: Reduce expenses. Increase income by 25% by the end of the year.

Break Down Annual Goals into Action Steps

Once I decide my goals for the year, I break those goals down into action steps – bite-sized steps that I can take to move me toward my goals.

For example:

Goal- Pay off remaining medical debt of $1200.

Action Step- Find an extra $100/month in the budget by cutting grocery budget and limiting eating out.

Click here to see the Action Steps for each annual goal above.

The Joyful Life Planner has an Action Plan page in each Quarterly Planning Section to help you break these goals down into steps you can implement in your weekly plan.

Incorporate Action Steps into Your Weekly Plan

Each week I review my annual goals and action steps then schedule some of the action steps into my weekly plan.

I use three categories on the weekly plan to help me focus on my most important priorities:

PERSONAL: Self-care activities/habits that enable me to reach my health goals, and which enable me to be energized so that I can meet all of my responsibilities.

PEOPLE: Tasks that enable me to develop and maintain relationships with my husband, children and close friends.

PROJECT: Action steps for financial, home and business goals. I keep this category at the bottom of the page to remind me that self-care and relationships are always more important than my to-do list.

Here’s a peek at my plan for this week: 

PERSONAL –  daily habits to keep me healthy and happy

• morning “Brain Dump” (read more here)
• 30 minute prayer walk (losing weight goal)
• drink 6-8 glasses of water (losing weight goal)
• eat protein for breakfast (losing weight goal)
• write in my gratitude journal
• go to bed by 10 p.m. 
• art journal daily
• visit to a local park

PEOPLE –  activities that develop relationship with those I love

• (wife) date with hubby – lunch date at a favorite local cafe (relationship goal)
• (wife) tell my husband a specific reason I love him every day (relationship goal)
• (mom) pray daily for my children
• (mom) dinner out with son (relationship goal)
• (encourager) coffee date with a friend

PROJECTS  –  tasks to take care of our household and my business

• major declutter session (home goal)
• sell books (financial goal)
• spend only $50 on groceries this week (financial goal)
• create new product to sell (business goal)

Hopefully that helps you see how to create your weekly plan from your annual goals.

If you’d like encouragement to plan and stay motivated with your goals, PLUS get tips and tools to help you get organized and save money, join The Peaceful Mom Community.

  Tap HERE to join!

Want more help for implementing goals so you can to live purposefully and joyfully this year?

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