How often do you set big, exciting goals, only to feel stuck or overwhelmed trying to make them happen? Or maybe you’ve tried to do it all at once and burned out before you could see progress?
I’ve been there too. I used to think reaching a goal meant striving harder or faster, but life has a way of showing us otherwise. Today, we’ll explore a fresh approach to goal-setting—one that fits real life, kicks the feeling of overwhelm, and helps you make meaningful progress with joy.
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Today I'm giving you a peek inside the Joyful Life Insiders Community. In the last episode I shared with you how I've been praying for this amazing online community that is structured to help you grow amongst friends that have similar values and are there to encourage you in every step of the journey. Our second core pillar is growth—not just growth for the sake of achieving, but intentional growth that leads to a more joyful, balanced life. Through tools like the Joyful Life Goal Planner, exclusive workshops, and a supportive group of friends, we are here to inspire you to take actionable steps toward becoming the person God created you to be. Growth is a journey, and it’s one I am excited to walk together.
Before we dive into the seven sustainable strategies for goal setting, let’s establish a framework that will guide you through this process. The Joyful Life Goal Planner focuses on eight areas of life: family, home, finances, personal growth/faith, career/work, fun/hobbies, friendships, and health.
Using the Wheel of Life activity inside the Joyful Life Goal Planner (and I've made it available as a free downloadable resource for you inside the Joyful Life Community). I encourage you to visualize and reflect on where you see yourself in each category, presently and then do this again with the upcoming season in mind. This exercise helps identify the areas that need attention and allows you to prioritize your goals for the season ahead.
If you've never written out a vision for your life I encourage you to dive into episodes 2 and 3 to define or refresh your values for the season you are walking into. It's essential to create goals based on a clear vision and a set of values you can filter them through. This will give you a foundation that keeps your goals relevant to the life you're aiming to create- a life you love!
When creating goals, it’s essential to understand the difference between a dream and a goal. Dreams inspire us- but they are more so a wish, a hope, and a desire, but goals give us a roadmap and steps to make those dreams a reality. I love to use the SMART framework when goal planning which use language to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). This framework is what makes goals actionable and attainable.
If you've set goals before, it's quite possible this is the point at which you get overwhelmed and throw in the towel. I know, because I used to set goals this way too. I used to love writing out big, hairy audacious goals but when it came time to implement habits to support the direction of my goals, my motivation would fizzle or I'd become so invested on succeeding I would burn out and miss the joy in the process. And, thats's why I wanted to share these strategies, or rather mindsets with you!
Before we talk about these 7 goal setting strategies I want to encourage you to choose a single focus goal. Don't worry, you will naturally begin to work towards the person you want to become in all areas as you focus on one single goal. But if you try to tackle multiple at a time, you'll likely be distracted and it will likely take way more time to accomplish which could lead to overwhelm or burn out.
Now, let's chat about the 7 sustainable strategies for goal setting:
Remove the Fluff:
We all love setting really big audacious goals that set the bar high. Don't we? The measure of our worth or success shouldn't be focused on how BIG the goal is but on the process.
Let me be honest, I'm all about SMART goals, but if we are honest, most times we reach burn out before we reach those lofty goals. Instead let’s breakdown your big into simple, manageable steps.
Nehemiah in the Bible was methodical with his plans. Strategically he planned and executed the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls by dividing the enormous task into smaller, manageable sections. By doing so, he not only accomplished his goal but also inspired those around him to contribute to the shared vision. Success isn’t about the size of the goal but the process of achieving it. I am so excited to teach you exactly how to do this in an exclusive class in February, only inside the Joyful Life Insiders Community. Join as we uncover how to create the ultimate blueprint for creating sustainable goals that last- and don't suck.
Embrace The Mess and Not just the Results:
I want you to learn to celebrate progress over perfection. A great way to do this is by breaking your focus goal into manageable actions and reward yourself along the way.
For instance, I really wanted to hit 100 episodes before I hit pause on this show. However, in case you don't know, as I am recording this episode, I'm expecting a baby any day now. My current season doesn't exactly support that kind of goal right now. So instead of being discouraged, I don’t wait til I record 100 episodes to celebrate, I pause and reward myself regularly- when I outline an episode, when I record an episode, when I publish an episode. Be your own biggest cheerleader- even when it feels awkward.
When you celebrate your success, others will too! Reward yourself along the way and make it fun!
When I started planning for my podcast, I removed the very thing that was preventing me from achieving this goal- I stopped posting to social media (I deleted the apps entirely) and focused the time I was scrolling on creating content. When I was done with just the first 4 episodes, I returned to social media, I rewarded myself by coming back and sharing the news of what I had been doing! And you know what... it was so rewarding- to myself and my friends online.
Philippians 1:6 reminds us, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion." This verse encourages us to trust in God’s work throughout the process, emphasizing that success isn’t about hitting every milestone perfectly but about showing up consistently, celebrating the little wins, and recognizing God’s hand in our journey.
Find ways to celebrate your little wins and make them a BIG deal!
Focus on What You Can Control:
Your success and results cannot be dependent on someone else’s behavior- so make sure when you frame your goal and the results you're seeking, be sure that you’re creating actionable steps you can control in order to see progress and create results that are related to your activity.
This happens all the time for me in being a content creator. I can’t control the algorithm or how well a single post will perform, how many people will see it, or if someone will engage with it. I can however control the number of ways I share about a topic and the ways I share it. So, instead of posting a single piece of content and putting my heart and soul into one post for it to flop- I shift my focus to creating 10 separate pieces of content around this one topic that connect with different listeners across different platforms or even a different type of post on the same platform- you may notice I will create a carousel and use the same messaging in my stories or in a reel. This way, I shift my focus to having fun and sharing my excitement for what I’m doing in different ways than feeling like everything I do hinges on one piece of content that flops. This keeps things creative, exciting, and allows me to experiment to see what works and what doesn't. Then I also don't get disappointed when the algorithm doesn't particularly favor a single post.
Eliminate the frustration of expectations and disappointment that are dependent on others and instead focus on your effort, your consistency, and your individual progress.
Establish life rhythms and habits:
This should be a no-brainer, but I don't want you to hate goal setting and achieving. The point isn't to add more things to do your calendar and to-do list. We have enough responsibilities- can I get an A-MEN?
And plus, I really want you to get excited and stay inspired and motivated to achieve your goals- big and small. The reason we are creating goals is simply to create a life we love and the rhythms we create in goal setting should make us want to jump out of bed. So when you're choosing something to focus on, don't make yourself miserable, choose something that inspires and motivates you!
Reframe Set Backs as Breakthroughs:
We all need to be reminded that growth and success are not linear. We need to not only anticipate set backs, but know exactly how we will navigate them when we do. Life is not all rainbows and butterflies and neither is success. It's important to remember we are human, we can do hard things, and we can choose to get creative when things don't quite go as planned.
You can choose to embrace set backs with joy or dread, learn to grow, or throw in the towel- but we don't have a community of quitters here- we are built and wired for joy! Ebb and flow, my friend!
Start Where You Are, With What You Have:
No one ever feels ready. Acknowledge your feelings and take the first step you know to take. And remember, once in motion, you’ll probably stay in motion. Much like the old example about putting on your shoes and gym clothes even when you don't feel like working out or making the bed when you start your day- little steps keep you taking action. You will never ever feel prepared enough, educated enough, qualified enough- spoiler alert- no one starting anything ever does, but the ones who stick to learning and are adaptable are the ones who persevere. The longer you wait to get started the further you are from living the joyful life you're longing to create. Trust that God equips you as you move forward. As 2 Corinthians 9:8 reminds us, "God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." God provides the resources and strength required to pursue the desires He has placed on your heart according to His purpose.
Be Flexible and Surrender Your Plans:
Be open to changing your mind about your goals for your life and your current season. I don't mean to give up when something doesn't work or be flighty. I mean hold your plans loosely. Don’t be too rigid in your planning. One of the greatest favors you can do yourself is to allow yourself to change your mind, when life changes so you're not fighting the wind.
The most important thing you can do as a follower of Jesus is to surrender your plans to the Lord. Surrendering your goals to God allows Him to work through you in ways you may not have imagined.
One of the biggest lessons that I have learned is that obedience is better than sacrifice. So if I lay my plans at the Lord's feet before he asks for them, it's a lot easier than coming to at Him with a bunch of broken pieces and being like, how the world do I fix this mess? Because I have been trying to control this and I cannot figure out how or what to do. And now I feel so tied to this and you weren't in it. That is heartbreaking. I would rather surrender it to him upfront and be like, Lord have your way. And that is revolutionizing the way that I set goals and make plans for my life.
Want to explore more on goal-setting?
Over the next 12 months, together in this community, you're going:
Replace overwhelm with a sense of peace and purpose.
Build habits that feel freeing, not forced.
Cultivate friendships that inspire and uplift you.
Feel confident in setting and achieving goals that align with your values.
Live each day with clarity, joy, and resilience.
If you’re ready to stop doing life alone and start experiencing the power of connection, growth in your life, and creating a life of joy, I want to invite you to join the Joyful Life Insiders Community. Inside, we’re building meaningful friendships, intentionally growing in what really matters, and embracing joy every day.
Be inspired, equipped, and empowered by joining a supportive community, growing yourself, creating a life you love with joy.
A friend of mine just recently open my eyes to something and I realized that other people also believe the same thing. I did a Facebook post this morning and I was like, agree or disagree? Should we be goal setting right now or like, is that something that we should wait on for the spring? Because spring, green means go. But right now everything's dead outside. It's winter. It's cold. I just want to cozy up and like reflect and rest. And that's exactly what I need to be doing in postpartum.
I am here over the next 12 months, for the longterm. It's only January and that's exciting because we're going to be goal setting, but we're really not gonna start tackling these goals until the spring.
So while I am going to be with you in the insiders community, I'm to be going back and resting and reflecting on the episodes that I've already created. I'm not going to create anything new. And I'm really going to focus on building out devotionals and loving and serving you guys with the content that's already there because I think it's so rich and rewarding.
In the meantime, I'm still going to be teaching a class once a month. And this month is going to be about "Word of the Year"- keep a watch on your email for when that goes live! And then next month, as I said before, it is going to be about blueprinting our goals so that we know how to write them when it's time to write them. By the spring, you're going to know exactly how to implement your life rhythms and habits and really start working towards achieving them. I think that we're going to get a lot further, a lot faster when we honor the season that we're in, in the season of winter, when we're resting and reflecting and
figuring out what our vision is and figuring out what our values are for our life and what we want to base things on before we rush in and create vision boards and go headstrong because of a date on a calendar that says January 1st.
What do I get as a member?
Now, when you join the Joyful Life Insiders, you're going to get immediate access to two of my biggest resources, plus have loads of resources to help you along in creating a life you love!
The Joyful Life Goal Planner: I created this resources just for this community. And everything we do is going be centered around this planner, and you're going to find sooooo much value in it! You're going to get access to the full Joyful Life Goal Planner, which right now is 62 pages of bliss, that is going to help you create a vision for your life, stick values to it, and then also help you with goal planning and habit setting, with goal planning and habit setting.
The Joyful Life Workshop: Where you will have access to endless replays of the workshop that goes along with the planner. I will walk you step-by-step and how to use the planner and make the most of it.
Together these powerful tools will help you set goals to create a vision and make meaningful steps and take meaningful steps towards living with intention. This is my personal step-by-step goal setting process that I follow every single year. and it includes prompts and ideas, worksheets, journal pages, the whole nine yards to help you form a vision and turn it into daily habits.
Exclusive Monthly Classes: Each month, I'm going to guide you in an exclusive Insiders podcast, only available within the community, that will help you focus on the most common challenges in our community. So you are going to have the ability to raise your hand and say, this is what I'm struggling with and...You may see me create a podcast out of it that helps dive directly into that topic and I'm stoked about it. This might include classes like decluttering your mind in your space, building the habits that stick, finding joy in everyday struggles in life. There's so many things that we could dive into.
Weekly Devotionals, Challenges and Resets: Exclusive access to devotionals and journal prompts and actionable steps to help you stay on task. Of course, gratitude pages and my starting today page that teaches you how to create priorities and make sure that you're working towards the goals that you want and have in your life.
Community Focused Chats and Cohorts: These private chats are where you can connect with other people who are in the same boat at the same time as you. So whether you're just starting out in your motherhood journey or you're a little further along and you have grandkids and you're empty nesters and you want to learn from people who are your peers, this is the perfect place for you. You can share your struggles and your challenges and have Q and A's and talk to one another and become friends. Share ideas and encourage one another.
Quarterly Refreshes: These are opportunities to reflect over the last 90 days and celebrate milestones and recalibrate towards your goals to refocus and recenter to make sure that you're actually making progress or reevaluate and say, it's time to shift and time to pivot. And you're going to know exactly how to do that when you join this group, because you're going to have all the tools and resources you need to do it.
Earn 1-on-1 Goal Coaching Sessions: Plus, I'll be giving an opportunity each quarter to earn a one-on-one coaching session inside the community as you grow with me. And I'm stoked about it because this is a practice I've been doing for six years and I am going to be able to help you specifically unpack your journey and your mindset and get out of the stuck.
Limited Time Offer
Friend, this is your moment. Don't wait for January 1st to start living with purpose. Start today.
Everything you need, I already have it waiting for you in the Joyful Life Goal Planner, the workshop, and the community-- it's all ready to go RIGHT NOW! You could start today.
For just $5 a month, you're going to gain access to all of this and more. Imagine looking back a year from now and you've seen how much you've grown and knowing that you invested in a life that you love. And I am so excited for this opportunity for you to grow with you.
And here's the best part. If you choose to jump in before January is over, you'll lock in that $5 a month founding member price for this year. Starting February, the price is going to increase to $10 a month. But by acting now, you're going to save that while going ahead and getting access to what's already there for you.
You can get started before January 1st with these tools, these resources and community support from me creating a life that you love.
So do not wait on the new year!
Start living with intention, secure your spot today, and join women who have already experienced growth and connection and joy inside the Joyful Life Insiders Community.
We are just getting started. And also, if you have had, you know, mom or grandma wondering what the world I could get you and you didn't know what to put on the list, I will also have a special link to be able to gift a membership, whether you're thinking of someone that this will be perfect for, or you want to have a friend join you. This is a special gift. Send your husband a little hint, like really would love to be a part of this community, it's going to help me reach goals for our family and grow me and make me feel connected and not so disconnected from the world because my schedule is busy, here's a link for 60 bucks for the year you're taking care of which is incredible.
As we move into this new season, this new year, I want you to know that joy is a choice, a promise that God has given us. And when we live with purpose and intention, we cultivate a life that reflects the goodness of his love. You do not have to do this alone, friend. Let's build friendships. Let's grow together and let's create lives filled with joy.
Join us today and let's make 2025 your most joyful year yet.
Ready to dig deeper, find community or just get more joyful life exclusives? Head over to the free Joyful Life Insiders Community on Patreon.
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Thanks so much for stopping by! We so enjoy sharing our life alongside you. We are so grateful to each of you reading and being a part of our life and our story! We hope to be part of yours, too! And, we'd love to connect.
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With joy,
Lauren Alonso
topics and tags: hope and faith, how to get your hopes up, mindset reset, trusting God’s plan, Christian encouragement, Joyful Life, Intentional Living, Christian Podcast, Personal Growth, Family Values, Goal Setting, Faith and Joy, Mindset, Joyful Living Tips, Balanced Life, Cultivating Joy, Emotional Well-beingt, joyful expectations, overcoming fear, Christian podcast, positive mindset tips, trusting God in hard times, finding joy in every season, hope in difficult seasons, renewing your mind, biblical encouragement, Christian goal setting, practical faith steps, joy-filled life, spiritual growth tips, Philippians 4:8 reflection, navigating challenges with faith