Achieve Your Goals: The Power of Processes

In 2021, I purchased a pocket-sized goals journal that had nothing but 176 pages of various goal trackers. How could I not reach my goals with that much tracking capability?

I immediately filled the first three pages in with individual yearly goals I wanted to achieve in 2021: Make $5000 a month, attend most of my Christian meetings, lose 50 pounds.

Honorable, achievable, and common goals that millions of people accomplish every year. I was definitely going to be one of them! All I needed was this amazing tracker to keep me in line, right?

Wrong.

The fourth page in my handy, dandy goal tracker says “SEO goals to work toward. . . in 2024“.

I had put that goal journal up on a shelf for three years and, out of sight and out of mind, every other perfect goal tracking page was untouched, never to be used again. Sure, I used other journals and planners and apps and tricks in vain attempts to achieve my yearly goals, but unsurprisingly, none of them worked.

And not because they didn’t do what they were created to do – logging and tracking goals and habits – which they did wonderfully, but because logging and tracking is the smallest portion of goal setting.

Actually achieving those goals takes more than tracking, it takes action. And it is determining what actions you need to focus on and figuring out when and how to perform them that will unlock your goal setting – and keeping! – ability.

The ability to create processes for each goal you want to achieve and combining them into a system that not only moves you closer and closer to your desired end results but also transforms you into the type of person that will accomplish them!

In 2025 we are going to tap into a new approach. We are going to fully realize that the key to our small business success lies, not in setting the goals, but in defining the processes and following the detailed systems we curate to achieve them.

By creating effective processes, you can turn your goals into reality.

Habits vs. Processes

Nearly every 2025 planner that we have laid our eyes on has small checkbox sections for habits, but none of them seemed to have spreads or layouts dedicated to setting processes – or series of actions or operations conducing to an end. Merriam-Webster

Identifying habits, or specific behaviors we want to repeat consistently, is second nature to most of us, but many of us are entirely unfamiliar with taking the time to see how those behaviors connect together to create a bigger picture.

A bigger picture that helps us to see and understand how our desired habits overlap and, beyond just filling out a checklist, truly support us in becoming the the type of person that does those things – with or without a tracker.

Before these habitual behaviors become a core component of who we are, however, we must first go through the period of time where we have to actively force ourselves to carry them out. And while “drink 64oz of water a day” seems simple and easy, anyone whose gone on a hydration journey knows that it is most definitely not simple or easy.

And that is one of the downfalls of cut and dry habits. They oversimplify, over promise, and overwhelm.

The black and white nature of “drink 64 oz a day,” “walk 5 miles,” and “book 3 calls each week” all trigger our dopamine when we think of them happening, but when you wake up each morning with only the thought of them happening and not having established the process of how they will happen, you may find yourself checking less and less boxes and, like me, putting the habit trackers on a shelf to avoid continuing to disappoint yourself.

A sad ending that occurs with many a goals and many a goal setters.

Reaching goals is a process, but that doesn’t mean you should throw out your habit tracker.

In fact, now that you are ready to set up processes to achieve your personal and small business goals, it’s time to pull together all of your desired habits and set processes for each of them.

Like I mentioned earlier, the habit is the what you want to do to reach your goals and the process is the when and how you’ll do it. By breaking habits down into even smaller aspects, processes provide a framework for consistent action – helping us see how we can plug desired behaviors into where they fit best in our flow of life.

But going from thinking in terms of goals to thinking in terms of processes, for most, will require a mindset shift.

Mindset Shift: From Habits to Processes

To effectively build out a process, we need to shift our mindset from a goal-oriented approach to a systems-oriented approach. Instead of focusing solely on the outcome, we should focus on the steps and behaviors that lead to that outcome, and how they inevitable will enact change across our everyday lives.

Say your goal is to grow your social media following to 1k.

A goal-oriented approach would be to post on social media every day.

While posting social media content regularly is not a bad habit, just posting to be posting isn’t a good strategy. Sure, you’ll gain followers eventually, but will they know what to expect from you if your marketing is haphazard?

Now, let’s take the desired habit of posting everyday and list some system-oriented processes that would elevate that habit, allowing it to better support the main goal.

Keep in mind that unlike a habit that only covers a what, these process cover how, when, and usually, why:

• First(when) create a business Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube profile(how) to direct new followers to(why)
• Join online or local groups each month(when) to share value in(why) by answering questions members ask or offering services(how)
• Performing market research and gathering feedback(how) regularly (when) to see what your audience is interested in so you can provide timely, valuable feedback(why)
• Planning bulk content(how) ahead of time(when) to account for any periods of time spent away from your business(why)

Did you notice how these processes combine to not only make our habit of posting every day more valuable, but also feed into a larger system – or an organized or established procedure – our content marketing strategy. (Merriam-Webster)

Where habits are meant to be carried out every day for eternity, each of these processes can be plugged into a calendar to mark milestones in the overall system of our content marketing strategy.

The processes support the systems that support the goals.

I really love how Alexis Kingsley breaks down system setting in her YouTube video, but here are a few hard steps to creating systems for your business.

1. Identify Key Areas: Determine the areas of your business where you want to improve and how you want to improve them, these will be your goals.
2. Break Your Goals Down: Divide each of those goals into habits and the detailed, actionable processes needed to incorporate them into your daily life.
3. Build The Processes Into A System: Develop a system that ties all the processes together and supports working toward achieving the bigger picture goals. For example, if your goal is to write a blog post every week, your system might involve the processes of planning, creating, and scheduling your content as well as the processes of promoting that content on various social media channels.
4. Track Your Progress: Monitor your progress and make adjustments to your milestones as needed. (Use our FREE 2025 Perpetual calendar for a bird’s eye view of your goals and progress!)
5. Celebrate Your Wins: Reward yourself for achieving even small milestones to stay motivated.

Here are some additional small business goals you may be interested in achieving in 2025:

Goal: Increase Revenue by 20%

• System: Implement a consistent content marketing strategy, including blogging, social media, and email marketing.
• Process: Offer new services or products to expand your offerings.
• Process: Network with other business owners and industry professionals.
• Process: Leverage technology to automate tasks and streamline operations.

Goal: Improve Customer Satisfaction

• System: Implement a customer relationship management (CRM) system to track interactions and provide excellent customer service.
• Process: Conduct regular customer surveys to gather feedback and make improvements.
• Process: Offer personalized customer experiences, such as customized emails or personalized product recommendations.
• Process: Train your team on customer service best practices.

Goal: Reduce Operational Costs

• System: Implement cost-saving measures, such as energy-efficient practices and reducing waste.
• Process: Automate repetitive tasks, such as invoicing and scheduling.
• Process: Negotiate better deals with suppliers and vendors.
• Process: Review and optimize your business processes regularly.

While these systems are pretty generic, you can flesh them out according to your business model and your specific goals and situation.

Supporting Your Goal-Setting Systems

Now that you have a process and system or two in place, let’s look further into supporting them because, remember, just like tracking goals isn’t the key, just writing your processes down isn’t the key either.

Luckily for us, we have a variety of support services on our side!

The Role of Technology in System Building

In today’s digital age, technology can be a powerful tool for building and maintaining systems. Where our human brain pales, technology can usually fill in the gaps with timed reminders, artificial intelligence, and the space to brain dump. Here are a few tech tools that can help you:

• Project Management Tools: Tools like Teams, Asana, Trello, and Monday can help you organize your tasks, set deadlines, and track progress.
• Time Management Apps: Apps like Clockify and Focus To-Do can help you monitor your time usage and identify areas for improvement.
• Note-Taking Apps: Apps like Samsung Notes and Google Keep can help you capture ideas, organize information, and track your progress.
• Artificial Intelligence: While it did take me a long time to even give AI a try, I can say that it has honestly become like a sounding board for me – a sounding board with a disclaimer that it can’t be trusted and you should really check it’s sources. Still, no matter what AI you use, it is a great place to gather and expand on ideas.

Just remember, pen and paper is a classic approach to goal setting and one that I personally support!

The Power of Accountability Partners

Another way to increase your chances of success is to seek out accountability partners that are willing to hold you to your goals and standards.

Consider joining local entrepreneur organizations or joining a supportive small business group online.

Having someone who can relate to your small business lifestyle, and that you can check in with regularly can be a crucial component in helping you stay motivated to stick to your processes and on track to achieving your goals.

(Consider this a shameless plug of my Right Hand Admin Facebook group where I work hard to provide practical advice and genuine guidance to small business owners and entrepreneurs like you!)

Automating and Delegating

By automating repetitive tasks and delegating responsibilities, you can free up valuable time and energy to focus on high-priority activities.

Automation tools can streamline processes like email marketing, social media scheduling, and content creation.

When choosing automation tools, consider factors such as your budget, technical expertise, and specific needs. Some popular options include:

• HoneyBook CRM Business Process Automation Tools (here’s my link for 30& off)
• Zapier: create custom automations across different apps
• MailerLite: Automatically add your audience to email marketing campaigns

Just remember, automations are not magic. You must first analyze your business and determine the what is needed to support your specific processes.

Additionally, delegating tasks to team members or virtual assistants can help you lighten your workload and improve efficiency.

Once you have established the sustainable systems and standard operating procedures that support your long-term business goals, you can outsource specific tasks and processes without sacrificing your progress. With the time you free up, you can spend more time on income producing activities, with clients, or enjoying some relaxation!

Remember, delegation is not about micromanaging or abdicating responsibility. It’s about trusting your team and empowering them to succeed. By delegating effectively, you can create a more efficient and productive workplace.

Scriptural Application

The Bible tells us that the plans of the diligent surely lead to success (Proverbs 21:5), but what does diligent really mean?

While the Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines diligent as “characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort, the bible shines a little more light on what being diligent means in the God-given sense.

Let’s take a look at the rest of Proverbs 21:5 and see that it also says, “But all who are hasty surely lead for poverty.” In true biblical fashion, this verse uses comparisons to highlight opposite outcomes for differing paths or traits.

In this scripture, the opposite of diligence is haste, or impulsivity. Both diligence and haste require energetic effort, but the energy behind diligence is steady, earnest – we can easily imagine it as something that is well planned and thoughtfully carried out.

How can we make sure that we are diligent with the processes we set up?

Well, first, we must accept that the time to plan comes before the time to act. The last thing we want to do is dive headfirst into a project that not only is fruitless, but also takes away space from more valuable efforts.

For instance, I have a tendency to get really excited about a particular idea or topic and, instead of taking the time to pull together all the value I can around it, I hastily type up a single long post that, honestly, nobody reads.

And because it was hasty, the CTA is sporadic and weak, there is no follow up to it, and nothing ever really comes of it.

Now, if I were to apply the practical guidance of Proverbs 21:5 and be diligent, I would still be able to utilize my bright idea, but I would also take the time really flesh the idea out. Research some facts around my thoughts on it, solidify some main points I want to create content around, and then take the time to plan, draft and proofread my related blogs, newsletters, and posts before scheduling them to be delivered at their appointed time.

Do you have some topics you are super excited to share with your audience but don’t want to hastily throw them out on the world wide web without a solid line to reel the takers back in? I’d love to help you turn that idea, and others, into content pillars that help organize the output of your knowledge and expertise.

Go ahead and join the Right Hand Admin Facebook group mentioned above and either post your ideas for community help or send me a DM for a one-on-one conversation! And make sure to subscribe to my newsletter below to never miss when I drop new content for new and budding entrepreneurs!

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