How To Set Quarterly Goals And 7 Reasons Why You Should

January 13, 2021

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Learn how to achieve more in a year with quarterly goals instead of yearly goals. Discover what quarterly goals are, how to set quarterly goals and 7 reasons why you should!

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Who doesn’t love a good goal-setting session? 

I’m certainly a fan! I love sitting down and brainstorming new improvements I want to make to my life.

It is such a cathartic experience to me, and I enjoy the time I get to reflect on my life and come up with possible solutions to my problems. 

What I often don’t like is the stuff that comes after the goal-setting process. 

You know, the part where you actually have to do something about it? 

Yah, this part isn’t always my cup of tea…

I feel like I always stay super motivated for the first month, but then it starts to feel like too much work by the time the honeymoon period is over.

I’ll get to the second month and think there’s no way I can maintain this for the entire year.

That’s when I start to lose interest.

By the time the second month is over, I’ve basically given up on my goals. By the time the year is over, I’ve already forgotten the personal goals I set for myself. 

But I have a solution to this that has really helped me over the years and I hope it can help you, too! 

This solution is one that is often used in a business setting, but it works perfectly for personal goals, as well.

This concept is called quarterly goals.

Basically, it just means that you make your goals smaller and more frequent rather than making one big goal for the year. 

Today I want to tell you a little more about quarterly goals and give you reasons why you should switch your goal-setting style to this approach. 

Related Post: How To Achieve Your Goals In 7 Simple Steps

A stick person climbing a set of stairs up to an image of a lit lightbulb.
Image by athree23 from Pixabay

What are Quarterly Goals? 

Let’s take a look at our year.

It is made up of twelve months and we usually like to celebrate the completion of the twelve months all in one night.

But what if we sectioned off the year?

When you separate the year into a series of four sets of three months, you get a year that is divided into quarters.

Quarterly goals are reflections and resolutions that you make at the end of each of these quarters.

Here are the common dates for these quarters: 

  • First Quarter: January 1- March 31
  • Second Quarter: April 1- June 30
  • Third Quarter: July 1- September 30
  • Fourth Quarter: October 1- December 31

Basically, instead of having one big New Year’s tradition, you have four smaller events throughout the year. 

Now that you know what quarterly goals are, download the workbook below to walk you through the process and then keep reading!



How to set quarterly goals

The steps to set quarterly goals are quite simple.

In the first quarter, you will come up with a goal you think you can complete in three months.

You will then spend those three months working towards that goal.

Once the second quarter arrives, you will first need to reflect on your previous goal. Did you reach the goal you set in the first quarter? Why or why not?

Decide if you need to make adjustments to your first quarter goal or if it is completed and you are ready to move on to the next goal for the second quarter.

Continue to follow these steps as you enter each new quarter and you will find that you achieve a lot more goals and have more renewed motivation throughout the year.

Related Post: 7 Reasons You’re Failing Your Goals You Can Fix Now

Why Quarterly goals work better than yearly resolutions

"7 reasons quarterly goals are better than goals you only make once a year."

1. Quarterly goals are less overwhelming

As humans, we are prone to dreaming big and thinking about our future quite often.

But have you ever found that when you look too far into the future, you mostly just end up anxious and worried about all the unknowns?

That’s because we are not built to look at the big picture.

We do better when we put everything in our lives into smaller portions.

Instead of eating a turkey whole, you cut it up into smaller pieces and take little bites.

Our approach to personal goals should be the same.

Instead of setting one massive, hard-to-achieve goal for the entire year, it is more manageable to set a series of smaller goals throughout the year.

Quarterly goals will be smaller, more achievable, and less overwhelming as a whole, making them the better option. 

Related Post: 225 Encouraging Quotes to Make you Feel Inspired Today

2. Quarterly goals let you readjust when something isn’t working

It can be hard to know ahead of time how your year is going to look. 2020 certainly taught us a valuable lesson about that.

What happens when you make a yearly goal that assumed your life would look a certain way?

For most people, their yearly goals become pointless by the time half the year is over for one reason or another.

Maybe they resolved to read more, but then they became a Grandmother and their priorities changed to focus on their grandchild.

Maybe they resolved to exercise more, but then they broke their leg and can no longer aim for that goal.

When these unpredictable things happen, it is normal for us to give up on our yearly goals. However, when you set quarterly goals, this ceases to be an issue.

Every three months, you will have the chance to reassess your priorities and decide on the most suitable personal goals to set for your next three months.

Life will still throw you curveballs, but you will have more flexibility to make changes according to your current needs in life.

Related Post: 20 Helpful Journal Prompts for Self-Reflection and Personal Growth

A typewriter that has the word "Goals" written on the page.

3. Reflecting on your goals will be encouraged 

When you make yearly personal goals, it’s easy to simply forget about them until the end of the year.

With quarterly goals, you will be reminded to reflect on your progress every three months.

You will actually have it scheduled into your year to review your goals and consider relevant next steps. 

Related Post: The Only Monthly Reflection Template You Need for Spiritual Growth

4. You will be able to achieve a greater number of personal goals

It is difficult to judge what we might reasonably be able to achieve within a year. Because of this, we end up making goals that are either too small or too big.

Instead of making one big goal for the year, quarterly goals remind you to make your goals smaller and more relevant.

Instead of creating one massive goal that you may or may not achieve by the year’s end, you get the opportunity to create smaller, more realistic goals throughout the year.

Because they are smaller and more achievable, you will be more likely to succeed and more likely to create more goals. 

If you need help setting realistic goals for yourself, you should download the workbook I made for you! In this free downloadable content, you will learn how to create a goal that is achievable and start the process of creating your own goals.



5. You will have more motivation and purpose throughout the year 

You know that feeling you get in January when you make your new goals and start tackling them?

Wouldn’t you want to have that same feeling four months in the year instead of just one?

Quarterly goals will allow your personal goals to feel more fresh and relevant than if you only set them once a year.

People change a lot in only a year, and when you make goals that are supposed to last twelve months, you will likely find that you don’t care about those goals halfway through the year.

They won’t feel as relevant or important as they once did and you won’t feel very motivated to make them happen.

Quarterly goals will keep you freshly motivated throughout the whole year! 

Related Post: How To Do A Brain Dump To Stop Overthinking Now!

6. You will have an easier time setting SMART goals because the time frame is more reasonable

When you are goal-setting, you need to consider if your goals are SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

These things are particularly hard to know, however, if your time limit is an entire twelve months.

When I was goal-setting for my blog, I remember thinking that there was no way I could guess what kinds of things I’d have to accomplish within a year.

There was so much I didn’t know yet, and I knew that I would simply have to take everything day by day and continue to reassess what I need to do to move forward.

Goal-setting is much more effective and realistic when you working within a smaller time frame.

For this reason, quarterly goals will make it easier for you to set SMART goals. 

Related Post: The Ultimate Guide To SMART Goals You Can Actually Achieve

A text image that says, "Create goals you can achieve by using SMART goals. Specific- is it clear and obvious, or is it too general? Measurable- is it easy to assess your success? Achievable- will you be able to succeed? Relevant- does it help you, or is it totally random? Time bound- is there a clear deadline?"
This is a brief explanation of what it means to have a SMART goal.

7. You will be encouraged to celebrate progress, not just the achievement of a big goal

If you’ve ever spent any time wandering this site (which I would recommend, by the way!), then you’ll have found that I’m a huge advocate for celebrating progress rather than outright success.

A big part of authentic living is recognizing that we’re never going to be perfect and that those flaws and mistakes are what make us all so unique in the first place.

It doesn’t matter so much if we succeed in our goals; it matters more that we made the most of our journey.

Quarterly goals make it easier to do that.

When you make only one goal a year, it can be so easy to forget about it and then feel bad that you didn’t make any progress on it at the end of the year.

If you set quarterly goals, instead, you can create smaller goals that celebrate progress rather than the achievement of massive resolutions.

It will serve as a reminder for you to take a look at how far you’ve progressed and to look forward to the small steps forward in the future. 


I hope that this information was able to help you better decide whether you’d like to tackle yearly goals or quarterly goals in the future.

Obviously, I am biased towards quarterly goals, but if yearly goals work for you, then, by all means, go for it!

We are all designed so uniquely, and what works for one person might not work for others.

Be a scientist of your own life and experiment with things that work best for you! Good luck goal-setting this year!


Have you ever tried quarterly goals before? What did you think?


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Genesis is a former elementary teacher and an avid writer. She has always been passionate about discovering new routines and systems for her life, and now she spends her time sharing those systems with others so that they can live a simpler life that is built for their unique needs. She believes that we all have the power to live an authentic life that never feels like a ‘daily grind’, and her goal at In Its Season is to do everything she can to help others create that life for themselves through habit-building, routine-development, and lifestyle tips. Read more about the author and what her site is about.

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12 Comments

  1. Single Mom Chapters

    As someone who doesnt keep up with the new years resolution, I find this very helpful. I think quarterly goals will work for me. This is so useful, thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Genesis Sampson

      I’m glad you liked it! I used to love making New Year’s Resolutions, but I did find them to be ineffective. Quarterly goals are much more attainable!

      Reply
  2. Cassidy Poe

    This is the first year I have set out to do quarterly goals and I love it so much better than whatever I was doing before. It makes the goals seem more attainable, which I love. Thanks for sharing your insight!

    Reply
    • Genesis Sampson

      Yes, I totally agree! I feel like we are simply not built to think so far ahead into our year! Quarterly goals are much more manageable.

      Reply
  3. Kelly Bolen

    Loved this post! Great advice! Thank you for sharing!!!

    Reply
  4. Sarah Althouse

    I definitely prefer to break my goals down into smaller timeframes!

    Reply
    • Genesis Sampson

      Yes, definitely! It is so much more encouraging when you pay attention to the small steps instead of trying to always achieve the massive goals!

      Reply
  5. Kelly Short

    I really love the idea of quarterly goals! A whole year gets to be overwhelming!

    Reply
    • Genesis Sampson

      Yes, it can absolutely be overwhelming- not to mention hard to predict! Quarterly goals are a great solution that keeps things manageable 🙂

      Reply
  6. Stephanie

    I think this is an awesome way to set goals for yourself. It’s much more manageable and less stressful! There’s less pressure on you to get it all done and it’s realistic! What a great, informational article you wrote up here!

    Reply
    • Genesis Sampson

      Thanks! I’m a bit of a perfectionist myself, and I have found that this style of goal-setting really helps take the pressure off. It makes the whole process so much more enjoyable and fulfilling!

      Reply

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Welcome to In Its Season, a place for you to discover routines and habits for a better life, homemaking tips for managing your home without overcomplicating things, and Christian living tips to help you grow closer to God.

I am a person who loves the simple things in life and wants to encourage you with the joys of everyday routines. Read more about what I’m all about and how I came to realize the importance of living out my most authentic life.

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