When it comes to managing a family and running an online business as a mom with kids at home, it’s often challenging to determine where to place your time and energy. Should you focus on creating goals, setting up systems or something else? Today we’re going to chat about a topic that came up during a private coaching call I had with a client and I’m hopeful that you’ll walk away with the clarity around the systems or goals that matter most for your life and business and when to implement both. Sound like something you need? Well then, let’s get started.
Links for This Episode
- Grab your Mama Business Task Hub
- Schedule your Mama Business Strategy Session
- Enroll in the Mama Business Blueprint
Podcast Episode Recommendations
- #76: 3 Reasons to Choose Long-Term Strategy over Instant Wins in Business
- #65: How to Automate Your Sales Process and Take Back Your Family Time
- #64: Are Your Business Systems Ready for Growth? 3 Ways to Know
- #38: How to Choose Goals that Actually Matter for the Upcoming Year
- #36: How to Clarify Your Purpose and Vision for Your Online Business
Systems or Goals: Which One Matters Most for Your Life and Business?
Well hey there mama and welcome to the Mama Business podcast and today I want to have a down-to-earth discussion about the difference between strategy and goals and which one matters most to your online business.
This is something that I had a client ask me on a Mama Business Strategy call and I thought that it might be useful to talk about it here so that you can understand it as well. Because I actually believe that this discussion today could change the trajectory of your business for good. But in order to discuss this, we really have to nail down what a goals and systems are.
Goal: what you want to accomplish in a certain area of your life. It’s a desire or a dream for the future that you plan to achieve. So, it could include personally, professionally, in your family life, your health, financial life or any other area.
Systems on the other hand can refer to actual tech that’s put in place within your business or in your personal life, but it can also refer to the strategies that are used. The mode by which you will push onward to achieve the goal. The environment in which a goal succeeds.
So, which is more important? Systems or goals?
And this is kind of a trick question. Because the truth is that without goals – your systems don’t matter. They’ll be there collecting dust and you’ll either be 1. using them haphazardly to accomplish busy work or 2. you won’t be using them at all.
On the flip side, without systems in place – goals are just wishes – things you’d like to see happen but have no actual plan to accomplish.
The two go hand in hand. You can’t have goals without systems in place to reach them and you won’t be successful with systems – no matter how fancy they might be – if they aren’t tied to achieving a goal.
Let me repeat that. You can’t have goals without systems and you can’t effectively use systems without goals.
Systems or Goals: Where Should You Start?
So, if we know that we can’t achieve our goals without systems and our systems are useless without goals, then where should we start?
I believe it starts with the goal. Determine the result you want. When you’ve done that, you’ll be able to put the systems in place to get you there. So, let’s take a look at how that happens and use our friend Jane as an example.
Let’s say Jane’s goal is to build a 7-figure weight loss coaching business within the next five years.
Now, for the sake of this example, we’re going to assume that Jane is already well-trained in weight loss practices and has some coaching experience under her belt. So, that’s not something she needs to add to her list – get more training, research, etc. But if she wasn’t, that’s would probably be the first system or strategy she’d need to put into place. We’re giving her the benefit of the doubt that she’s not jumping into this without some prior knowledge, though.
So, what strategies or systems does Jane need to put into place in order to make her goal happen. In order to build that 7-figure weight loss coaching business within the next five years?
Let’s start with the tech that Jane might need to have in place.
- Website (and long-form content) – be an authority, have a home base that communicates everything she has to offer
- Sales pages and payments set up
- Calendar for scheduling calls
- Course platform (if that’s a thing she needs)
- Email marketing
But you can see that NONE of those systems will matter if Jane isn’t using them for the purpose of achieving a goals. Otherwise, she’s just wasting money.
Then, there’s the strategy she might need to put into place outside of the tech.
- Content strategy
- Knowing what to say, where to connect
- Efficient coaching call format
- Work times
- Location of work
- Babysitter
Once again, though, we can understand that if Jane isn’t using these strategies for the purpose of achieving her goals, she’s just wasting time and money. And the same rings true when it comes to achieving our personal, family, or financial goals as well.
Your goal directs the system – tech or strategy-wise – that you need to have in place in order to be successful.
Systems and Goals: Is Your Strategy Enough?
Now, as far as the business example goes I know I’m going to have at least one person email me to tell me that I’m wrong. That they have a goal and feel like they are making great progress toward achieving it without any of the systems or strategies I’ve mentioned in place. That they have been using social media and talking with their friends and family and that they have a full roster of clients. Trust me, I get this all the time. And if that’s you, I just want to say – that’s awesome. Really! It’s awesome that you’ve been able to create a system and a strategy that’s worked for you. There’s no doubt that these can all be good things.
But my question is whether or not that strategy or system of obtaining clients and client leads is going to be sustainable long-term. Will you be able to keep up with it when everything goes haywire at home? When your child’s needs require your full attention or your husband lands in the hospital and you’re energy and bandwidth has to be dedicated to things other than seeking out potential leads on social media?
And…will that system or strategy be enough to take you to the next level or will you constantly be on the hamster wheel of client acquisition?
Systems or Goals: Are You Heading in the Right Direction?
The same thing can be said for someone that has systems in place but isn’t quite sure where they are going in their business or in their life or whatever else it might be. Busy work leads to burnout. It does. If you don’t have a goal in place that you are fervently working towards, then at some point in time, you’ll realize that you’re throwing spaghetti at the wall with all of the things you’re doing and getting no actual results.
What a bummer, right? All that wasted time, energy, effort – all with nothing to show for it.
I don’t want that to be you. And that’s why I’m here every week giving you these actionable strategies you can implement immediately to put yourself on the track for long-term success in life and business. It might not happen immediately, but when it does – you need to be prepared.
Take Action: Ensure You Have Systems AND Goals in Place for Long-Term Success
So, all that to say that when it comes to goals and systems, they are both equally important. You won’t achieve those big goals if you don’t have systems and strategies to get you there and your systems are irrelevant if you don’t have a destination in mind. So…you need both.
With that, let’s jump into the action part of today’s episode. And we all know that action is where the dreams turn into the reality. Today’s action step is this:
I want you to consider what you have going for you right now. Chances are, you are in one of two camps:
- You have systems up and running that you are using in random ways with no clear purpose or goals. If you are just filling the days with busywork and not seeing any results – this is probably you and it’s time to get clear on your goals. It’s time to do the work so that you can actually make a difference for yourself and for those that you dream of serving. The longer you spin in place without direction, the more likely it is that you’ll never see those long-term results.
- You have goals fleshed out and are excited to achieve them but you haven’t taken the time to put your systems into place to accommodate reaching those goals. Mama, if that is you, you probably end the days feeling like you’ll never make it. That’s not a good feeling. It’s time to focus on getting those systems in place so that you can start to see progress as you move toward that big audacious goal and the future that you are dreaming of.
So, start with that goal. Determine the systems you need to make it happen. And then get started. Because mama, there are big things waiting for you. I just know it.
And if this is something that you are struggling with, I want to offer you a Mama Business Strategy session. We can sit down together and work through your goals, what matters most to you and get you on the right track with the systems you need to be successful. If that’s something you want, feel free to get on my schedule by heading to sarahbrumley.com/strategy.
Whatever you choose, mama, know that I’m cheering you on! Have an amazing day, and I’ll chat with you again soon.
