How to Actually Follow Through on Goals as a Busy Mom

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Spoiler: Willpower is not what helps you follow through on goals — Developing systems that work for YOU is the key.

If you’ve ever set a goal and then watched it quietly die under a pile of laundry or toddler tantrums… you’re not alone.

You are not lazy. You are not unmotivated. You’re just in a season of life where your time, energy, and attention are being pulled in a million directions — often by small people who always need a snack.

As a former Program Manager turned stay-at-home mom, I used to lead projects, teams, and costly timelines. I knew how to break a goal down, rally everyone around it, and win. Once I became a stay-at-home mom, I quickly realized that most of the “goal setting” advice I had always practiced aligned surprisingly well with my new reality. A reality filled with constant interruptions, emotional outbursts, and truly unpredictable days.

All I needed was a system — a realistic, grace-filled system — for actually following through on the things that truly matter.

So today, I want to share what I’ve learned throughout my career and my life as a sahm, so you too can follow through on goals as a busy mom.

1. Start with goals that fit your season.

Before we talk execution, we have to make sure you’re setting the right kind of goals. I was recently listening to a podcast episode from Sally Clarkson and she made an excellent point referencing Luke 14:28-30.

28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

Luke 14:28-30 (NIV)

Before you set a goal, you need to know if it’s realistic. I’m all for setting goals that push us a bit out of our comfort zones, that’s how we improve. However, setting goals that are ridiculously unattainable is not going to help you achieve them. This is truly a balancing act.

Dream of the future, YES. But in motherhood, especially during the young toddler years, you really need to set a few small, intentional goals supported by your current season — not ones fighting against it — that help you reach the future of your dreams.

Ask yourself:

• What’s most important in this season as it relates to the future we have envisioned for our family? (Spiritually, relationally, practically)
  
• What do I (or we) actually have time and energy for right now?
  
• What would make our daily life feel simpler, more peaceful, or more aligned with our family’s values and supports the vision of our future?

Example: Instead of “I want to workout 5 days a week,” maybe your goal is “I want to move my body 3 times this week while the kids do independent play.” If you are starting from zero days, 5 days might be a difficult goal, especially if the kids aren’t used to this new routine.

Once everyone is in a rhythm of mom’s workout time, you should be able to comfortably increase the days. It will become the new norm.

2. Write them down — where you will actually see them. 

Studies have shown that people who write their goals down are over 40% more likely to achieve their goals (like this study from Dominican University of California). This is SO simple. If you are more than 40% likely to follow through on goals just by jotting them down, you’d be so silly not to do so. I write mine in my planner because I open that almost daily and I plan the week ahead every weekend. Which brings me to #3 below…

Need a place to jot down your goals?

Plan purposeful goals with this free template. Just enter your name and email and I’ll send it straight to your inbox!

3. Frequently review your goals.

I think it goes without saying, but you shouldn’t write your goals and let them simply sit on a shelf. If you want to follow through on goals and turn your dreams into reality, you have to keep them in the forefront of your mind. You know the saying: out of sight, out of mind.

When I sit down to plan the week ahead, I often go back and review my goals so that I can structure my rhythms in a way that supports those goals that I’ve set for myself and the goals we’ve set for our family. 

Now, I’m not perfect — sometimes I rush through my planning or skip the review entirely. And every time I do, I can feel it. That’s usually when I start drifting off course and lose momentum. Reviewing my goals regularly is what keeps me grounded, focused, and actually making progress.

Simple questions to ask to see if you’re on track: 

1. Am I moving closer to or farther away from my expected outcome? Why?
2. What should I keep doing/stop doing/change?

4. Identify the obstacles that could stand in the way — and have a plan to overcome them before they occur.

This is a practice I often used in my professional career. I’d sit down with our entire team (our client and our internal team) and ask these very important questions before a project even began: 

1. What obstacles do you foresee getting in our way?
2. If they do happen, what is the expectation for overcoming them? 

This is an exercise I would not skip when it comes to goal setting — it doesn’t matter if it’s a multi-million dollar project or a personal health goal. We need to recognize that we live in a fallen world and things will happen. 

Let’s take our working out example for instance. An obstacle could be, the kids interrupt while I’m working out and I have to stop what I’m doing (because this REAL life ladies, it WILL happen). 

How do we solve this? Well, we could try any of the following: 

1. Stop the workout and try again during nap time. 
2. Switch the workout to a simple walk – this gets everyone some fresh air and movement. 
3. Find a way to include the kids, such as finding a Mommy and Me workout on YouTube. 
4. Simply move the workout to a different day and try again. You committed to 3 days, not all 7. 

Having potential solutions in your back pocket for those real life moments will reduce stress when those moments happen (because they will). You won’t have to think of a solution on the fly. You will greatly reduce those self doubts of “See, I knew I couldn’t make this work,” because you already have a plan in place to make it work. You’re not behind. You’re a problem solver and that boosts confidence.

5. Anchor yourself to an identity not an action in order to follow through on goals.

Another research based tip, is to focus on WHO you want to be, not WHAT you want to accomplish. Keeping with our working out example, tying that goal to the identity of a “strong mom” or “healthy mom” or “healthy future grandmother” is much more likely to lead you to success.

One identity based study focused on the act of voting. Some were asked an identity question: “How important is it to you to be a voter in the upcoming election?” While others asked a behavioral question: “How important is it to you to vote in the upcoming election?” 87.5% of of those asked the identity version said they were “very” or “extremely” interested in registering to vote. Only 55.6% of people who were asked the behavior-based question.

6. Focus on only ONE thing in each area of your life. 

If you’re a dreamer like me, you might have a hard time focusing on just ONE thing. Plus, if you’re a mom, focusing on one thing isn’t always an option. As mamas, we manage a lot. Many of us manage almost every aspect of our homes (cooking, cleaning, finances), plus being the primary caregiver for our beloved little ones. It’s A LOT. 

When I have goals I want to achieve, I try to focus on one goal per area of my life. Here are some examples: 

Physical Health: I will focus on 30g of protein per main meal. 

Home: I will get the bathroom decluttered by next weekend. 

Finances: We will have a “no spend” month in August. 

Kids: We will have one outing each week. 

Marriage: We will have one at-home date night every week. 

Business: I will write one blog post or recipe each week this year.

Once you have a habit locked in and you can do it effortlessly, then you can focus on a new thing in that area of life. For example, once I finish decluttering our bathroom, I can move on to the closet. But if I’m trying to declutter the entire house, it will feel like I haven’t gotten anywhere if I simply do a little here and a little there.

Seeing progress encourages us to keep going. Whereas not seeing the fruits of our labor, stirs up feelings of doubt and often leads us to burnout and giving up entirely. If we focus on one area we WILL see progress.

Just focus on ONE thing in each area of your life and this practice will pay dividends like you wouldn’t believe. This point is also evidence based and there’s a great book that discusses this topic specifically called The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results.

Words of Encouragement

Mama, if you’ve set goals in the past and struggled to follow through, you’re not alone. You just need a system that fits your circumstances — not someone else’s highlight reel.

Following through isn’t about hustle or pressure. It’s about creating simple rhythms that support the kind of mom, wife, and woman you want to become — one faithful step at a time.

You’ve got this. And if you need weekly encouragement, don’t forget to sign up to receive my newsletter that I send out every Monday morning at 6am.

Don’t forget to pin these tips for later!

Come back and reference these tips anytime you’re needing some encouragement to follow through on goals. It’s not easy, but you CAN do it!