How to Effectively Plan and Achieve Your Goals

Julie Murphy • May 9, 2022

Blog

If you’ve got a dream or goal that you want to accomplish, it’s about creating a pathway to get there that feels aligned on all levels. When we’re thinking about how to execute this plan, it has to feel expansive, empowering and one where we’re embodying the person who has already achieved the goal we have. Goal setting can sometimes feel restrictive so the key to achieving our goals is to take ourselves fully along on the journey, lead from our heart and reward ourselves along the way!

Start With the Big Picture

This is the part where you have to really feel into what you want to create. For example, if you have the goal of creating complete financial freedom by a specific age, how would that make you feel energetically on a soul level? What would it allow you to do in your life? What would it mean for your health, your family life and how you choose to spend your time?

It’s important to take the time to visualize these factors because expanding into that energy right now is what’s going to keep you on course. How to plan your goals isn’t always about taking tangible and purely practical steps. You have to lead from that energy in your heart space to really get clear and then double down on what it is you want to create, and what that will look like across all pillars of your life. Once you have this big picture or blueprint in your mind and you’re vibrating in that energy, you have something to anchor yourself to every step of the way and taking those more practical and strategic steps are going to come from a place of ease, flow and soul purpose.

What Needs to Change?

The next part of your goal setting is to look at your past and get clear on what hasn’t served you. After all, if you do what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always got! Going back to the financial freedom example and setting financial goals, this would mean accepting the reality of your financial situation right now by creating full awareness of your debts, your current cash flows and what you’ve allocated to your financial future. To know how to plan for financial freedom, you’ll then need to get down deep into your finances and look at what adjustments can be made that are in full alignment with your goal and dream.

Our money is completely connected to our energy and emotions, so when you’re looking at what needs to change, it will also be about identifying what feelings or emotions have created your financial behaviours up to this point. If you’ve found yourself in debt for example, what emotion have you used a debt as a distraction from? Debt is typically the result of a suffering pattern and a reflection of what’s happening internally. So when you shift the internal, you also change what shows up in your life. Working through this emotional piece will make achieving goals and planning for your future feel so much more empowering, because you’re peeling away those emotional layers and working towards your goal from this new, expansive energy. You let go of what hasn’t worked and make space for the new! From here, you can then make those practical decisions on what needs to change, what new habits can be implemented and how to keep yourself accountable.

Take Action!

It can be very easy to get caught up in the goal setting and planning part but achieving goals also of course comes from doing the things that will move the needle to get there! Try not to get overwhelmed with this part though. Simply taking the next right step whatever that looks like is all you need. It’s those small changes made consistently that get you closer and closer to your goal and dream!

For working towards your financial goals, this could look like automating your finances so that everything is deposited into your accounts on auto-pilot. For work related goals, it might mean sharpening up your CV so that you feel truly confident when sending it out and that it’s reflective of you in your full authenticity. It could mean making one positive adjustment in your diet or exercise regime week by week. Build those action taking muscles and know that each time you do, you’re already embodying the person who has achieved what you want to create!

Check In With Yourself

Knowing how to plan your goals also means regularly having check-in points with yourself so you can go back to that big picture and look at where things stand. You have to be absolutely relentless when it comes to pursuing your dream and goals, but sometimes things in life can show up, meaning a different path might need to be taken for us to get there. This is why I encourage people to have financial date nights so that they can see if their financial intentions and desires are still aligned, where shifts might have occurred and what tweaks they might want to make as they progress. This idea can be applied to whatever your goal and keeps you anchored and aligned to that overall big vision.

Reward Yourself Along the Way

Many of us can fall off track because we forget to acknowledge our accomplishments so far. Don’t forget, this journey can be one that is fun, despite the challenges that may arise along the way! So rewarding yourself as you go and recognising what you have accomplished enables you to tap back into that energy of abundance, live in the present moment and enjoy it! Again, these don’t necessarily have to be grand accomplishments either. Identifying past negative behaviours, choosing to make different choices, taking those small next steps should all be acknowledged. Show gratitude to what you are creating, the person you’re becoming and the life you’re building.

This goal planning and achieving journey is ultimately about creating a safe container on all levels for that expansion to occur. When you’re working towards a goal from this place of authenticity and true alignment, taking those action steps becomes so much more exciting and you really get to enjoy the process and all the abundance that comes along with it!

Let’s connect more! I’d love to see you over on my YouTube channel where I post multiple videos every week with more advice, inspiring interviews, tips and strategies on how to reach your financial goals.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Share Blog On Social

A woman is smiling while money is falling around her.

A book titled the spiritual laws of money

Get it NOW!

Recent Blogs

How to End the Year Like the Wealthy Do

By Julie Murphy • December 10, 2025

Reset Your Money Energy for 2026 Every December, we all feel that pull, the desire to “be better with money next year.” But here’s the secret I’ve seen again and again after nearly three decades of walking alongside people from all walks of life: Financially wealthy people don’t just plan their next year — they energetically complete the one they’re leaving. They close loops. They clear emotional residue. They realign their energy field before they set a single goal. And you can absolutely do the same. As I share in The Emotion Behind Money , wealth is never created by logic alone. It comes from managing the emotions behind your money and understanding that money itself is energy. And in Awaken Your Wealth , I remind readers that energetic shifts begin when you consciously picture yourself stepping into a new reality, while compassionately acknowledging the one you’re standing in now. So let’s walk through the simple year-end process I teach my clients — one that spiritually, emotionally, and financially resets your money field for a powerful 2026. 1. Review Your 2025 Wins & Losses With Compassion Before you step into the new year, look back with the most loving, nonjudgmental eyes possible. I call it neutral observation . Wealthy people don’t spiral into shame when something didn’t go perfectly. They get curious. Ask yourself: Where did I expand financially this year? Where did I contract emotionally or economically? What choices were truly aligned with my values? Which ones came from fear, scarcity, or old patterns? In Awaken Your Wealth , the “Accepting Reality and Awakening” step of PACT teaches that awareness without judgment is how we break old money patterns for good. So breathe. Notice. Write it down. No shame. No spiral. Just truth. 2. Forgive Any Money Mistakes Here’s a truth most people never consider: Every financial mistake carries emotional weight and emotional weight blocks money flow. From my work in The 4 Spiritual Laws of Money , we know that your heart’s energy is more powerful than your brain’s logic, and intention is what redirects energy back into alignment. Forgiveness, of yourself, your past self, or others involved, releases stagnant money energy. Try this: Write down any money decisions from 2025 that still feel heavy. Place your hand on your heart. Say: "I forgive the version of me who made this choice. She/he did the best they could with what they knew at the time.” Forgiveness isn’t about letting mistakes slide. It’s about resetting your emotional money field so you can co-create something new. 3. Create an Energetic Closing Ceremony for the Year This is where wealthy people truly separate themselves; they honor the transition. You can create your own year-end ceremony using whatever resonates from your spiritual toolkit. Here are a few ideas inspired by the intention-setting and clearing practices throughout my work: Light a candle Symbolize releasing the old year and calling in the new. Write a “completion list” Include everything you’re ready to release: debts you’re no longer carrying shame over, relationships you’re energetically cutting cords from, patterns you’re finished reenacting. Burn or bury the list This physical act tells the Universe: “I’m done living from this version of myself.” In The Emotion Behind Money , we explore how inherited beliefs and emotional patterns repeat until they are consciously released. This ceremony is your line in the sand. End with intention Close with one powerful intention for 2026, aligned from your heart: “I choose a new flow of abundance.” “I trust that money comes to me with ease.” “I allow myself to receive the wealth I’ve been working toward.” As The 4 Spiritual Laws of Money reminds us: “The Universe responds to action.” Your ceremony is your spiritual action. Ready to Step Into 2026 Aligned, Clear & Empowered? If you’re craving deeper support with your financial reset, join me for my Emotions Behind Money Workshop in January. If you’ve been feeling the nudge to recalibrate your relationship with money, this is your moment. Let’s make 2026 the year your inner wealth and your financial reality finally match. You deserve abundance and you’re closer than you think. With love, alignment & a whole lot of possibility, Julie ✨