How to Set Goals for the End of the Year (What My Cross Country Girls Taught Me)
If you're trying to figure out how to set goals for the end of the year... let me tell you a story first.
If you didn't know, I'm a high school cross country coach.
And before every race, we sit the team down and set goals.
So we went around the circle.
The boys went first and just rattled off their times. Easy. Done. Next.
But when we got to the girls...
"I want to push harder in the second mile."
"I want to get better positioning at the start."
And listen, those are SMART things to focus on. I was proud of them for thinking about it.
But they're not goals…
They're strategy.
Because I can't coach them if I don't know what time they're trying to run.
So I asked. And it turned out they DID have numbers in their heads...
...they just didn't want to say them out loud. Because what if they didn't hit it?
(Oof. I felt that one in my bones.)
So I told them what I'm about to tell you.
I'm not going to be disappointed if you miss it. As long as you give your best effort, that's the win.
The number just tells us which way we're running.
So how do you set goals for the end of the year?
Here's the deal... to set goals for the end of the year, pick ONE specific, measurable number you want to hit by December 31st (sales, members, subscribers, dollars). Then build your plan underneath it.
The number is the goal. Everything you do to hit it is the strategy.
And I see this SO much with the women I work with.
You've got a plan to post more.
Fix your funnel.
Try the new thing everyone's talking about.
But there's no number you're actually working toward.
So you're running hard... with no idea where the finish line is.
Grab my FREE 90-Day Reset
I made you a free 90-Day Reset so you can set your end of year goal (+ the plan to hit it) in one sitting. It's the same process I walk through every single quarter.
What's the difference between a goal and a strategy?
A goal is the result you want, and it has a number attached. A strategy is how you're going to get there.
"Run a 22:30" is a goal.
"Push harder in the second mile" is a strategy to get to 22:30.
Same thing in your business:
✔️"Sell 30 planners by December 31st" is a goal.
✔️"Post on Instagram 4 days a week" is a strategy.
Here's the reality... strategy without a goal feels productive. You're busy! You're doing all the things!
But you have no way to know if any of it is working.
Because working compared to what?
A plan tells you what to do. A goal tells you if it's working.
And when you DO have the number, the strategy gets so much easier to pick. You can look at "post more" and ask... is this actually going to get me to 30 planners? Or is it just going to make me feel busy?
(Busy is not a badge of honor… and I will die on this hill.)
Why is it so scary to say your goal out loud?
Because once you say the number, you can miss the number. And missing it feels like failing.
That's exactly what was going on with my girls.
It wasn't that they didn't care. They cared a LOT. That's why they didn't want to say it.
And I think a lot of women in business do the same thing.
We keep our goals vague so we can't technically fall short.
"I just want to grow."
"I want to be more consistent."
"I want this to be a good quarter."
It feels safer.
But here's what's actually happening... a vague goal protects your feelings AND keeps you stuck. Because you can't plan toward "more."
So this is your permission slip.
Your number doesn't have to be huge. It doesn't have to match what anyone else on Instagram is doing.
It just has to be YOURS... and a little scary to say out loud.
And if you give it your best effort and fall short? That's still the win. You'll be WAY further along than if you'd never picked a number at all.
How do I set goals for the last quarter of the year?
This is the same process I walk through every quarter (and it's what we do together inside my 90-Day Business Growth Plan).
ONE || Look back before you look forward
Before you pick a number, look at your last 90 days.
What was your goal... and did you hit it?
What went well? Where did your sales actually come from?
What didn't go as expected, and what did you learn?
This is how you pick a goal you actually believe in. You're building off what's already working, instead of pulling a number out of thin air.
TWO || Pick your number
Now pick ONE income or impact goal for the rest of the year.
Make it specific enough that on December 31st, you'll know without a doubt if you hit it (but also don’t make it too small either… you’re better than that).
Examples:
Sell 30 planners
Add 10 new members
Grow my email list by 250 people
Book 5 new clients
Not sure how big to go? I break down exactly how to do the math (+ how to close the gap without leaping the canyon) in how to set 90-day business goals you'll actually hit.
THREE || NOW pick your strategy
THIS is where "push harder in the second mile" finally belongs.
Once you know your number, choose ONE income-producing focus for each month. That's where about 80% of your time goes.
So if your goal is 30 planners, maybe that looks like:
October: build up your email list
November: run a Black Friday promo
December: holiday gift push
See how the strategy now has a JOB? Every post, every email, every task points back to the number.
Goal first. Strategy second. Every time.
What are examples of measurable business goals?
A measurable goal has a number and a deadline. If you can't count it, it's probably a strategy.
Here's a quick side-by-side:
❌ "Post more" → ✔️ "Get 100 new email subscribers by December 31st"
❌ "Fix my funnel" → ✔️ "Sell 20 of my $47 product this quarter"
❌ "Be more consistent" → ✔️ "Send 12 emails to my list before the end of the year"
❌ "Try the new thing" → ✔️ "Make $3,000 in sales by December 31st"
The left side isn't bad. You'll probably still do those things!
They just live UNDER the number... not in place of it.
What if I don't hit my goal?
Then you learn from it, adjust, and set the next one. Missing a goal just gives you information for next time (believe me, I probably miss my goals more than I achieve them, but I am ALWAYS making progress on them).
I say the exact same thing to my runners.
If you set a goal time and miss it by 20 seconds, but you ran the smartest race of your life? I'm thrilled. Now we know what to work on next.
Your business works the same way.
If you aim for 30 planners and sell 22, you still sold 22 planners. And you learned what worked, what didn't, and where to focus next quarter.
(If missing goals has become a pattern for you, here's what I do when I'm not hitting mine.)
The number isn't a test you can fail. It's a direction.
Pick your number before Q4 starts
Let's bring it home.
You don't need a bigger plan for the end of the year. You probably already have plenty of those.
You need a number.
✔️ Look back at what actually worked
✔️ Pick ONE number for the rest of the year
✔️ THEN pick the strategy that gets you there
It doesn't have to be huge. It just has to be yours... and a little scary to say out loud.
So say it. (Out loud. I'll wait.)
Ready to turn that number into a plan you actually follow?
Picking your number is step one. Actually working toward it every single week is where most of us fall off.
That's exactly why I built the SYS Planner.
It walks you through my Plan / Prioritize / Protect method, so your end of year goal turns into the handful of things you actually do THIS week:
PLAN your 90-day goal + break it down by month and week
PRIORITIZE the tasks that actually move you toward your number
PROTECT your time so you're productive... not just busy
FAQ
How do I set goals for the end of the year? Pick ONE specific, measurable number you want to hit by December 31st, like sales, new members, or email subscribers. Then look back at what worked last quarter and choose one income-producing focus for each month to get you there.
What's the difference between a goal and a strategy? A goal is the result you want, with a number attached ("sell 30 planners by December 31st"). A strategy is how you'll get there ("email my list twice a week"). You need both, but the goal comes first... otherwise you have no way to know if your strategy is working.
Why am I scared to set a specific goal? Because once you name a number, you can miss it. So most of us keep goals vague to feel safe. But a vague goal is almost impossible to plan toward. Set the number anyway, and treat your best effort as the win.
What if I don't hit my end of year goal? Treat it as information, not failure. Look at what worked, what didn't, and how close you got... then use that to set a smarter goal next quarter.
Is 90 days enough time to reach a business goal? Yes. Ninety days is long enough to make real progress and short enough that you feel the urgency to start this week. That's why I plan my business in 90-day chunks instead of one big yearly goal.