What Goal Setting Can Look Like in Every Season

From the beginning, cultivating what matters and the PowerSheets® goal planner have been for everyone. Our mission is to see every woman living on purpose —not just college students, not just moms, not just retirees, but every woman, everywhere.

This is, admittedly, a challenge: it's a tall order to design a tool that works equally well for woman in such varied seasons. The life of a young mom with three kids at home looks quite different than the life of a single CEO philanthropist in her 50's, right?

Yes—and no. While these two women might fill their days (and planners) with different activities, while they might set different goals and have different ways of living them out, we believe they have the same deepest desires at heart:

To know what matters, and act on it. 

To deepen connections with the people they love.

To live in a way that feels good and reflects their values, day after day.

To stop wasting time.

To feel their days have meaning and purpose.

To leave their mark.

And to do all this with ease and joy.

Yes, it's a tall order, but the Cultivate What Matters planners are up to the task. PowerSheets®, Fresh Start™, Season by Season®, and all of our tools are designed to be flexible on purpose. They provide a trellis of support—expert guidance, thoughtful questions, genius layouts—alongside plenty of opportunities to make this process your own, for exactly what you need in your season.

Since the 2026 collection is inspired by the seasons—in the year, and in life—we thought it might be helpful to dive a bit deeper into this concept. Today, we're highlighting five of the (many!) seasons we see women in this community thriving in, with a few thoughts on what goal setting could look like and which of our tools might be a great fit. Though five categories could never sum up the glorious multitude of gals who call CWM home, we hope you see yourself reflected here—and that it helps you make your best planning decision for the year ahead!

College Students

What you're feeling: You are lit up with possibility, tingling with all that could be. You're meeting new people, trying new things, trying on different identities and passions to see what might fit. You're eager to launch into the future—to know what career, partner, or city might lie around the corner, to see the shape of your life—but when you're honest, there's a lot that feels scary, too. Do you have what it takes? How will you make it in a world that's always changing? Can you hold on to who you are and what really matters with all the competing voices constantly in your ear?

How we can help: You need a quiet place to come back to yourself, a judgment-free zone that's just for you—no performing, no posturing. Our signature reflection questions will help you assimilate all the new things you're learning and give you a process for deciding what thoughtful decisions you might want to make about how to spend your time and where you want to focus your efforts.

You might love: The Fresh Start goal planner combines the best of the PowerSheets goal-setting process with our fan-favorite daily or weekly agenda pages. It's lightweight and compact enough to toss into a bag and bring to class, and the quarterly format means you get to revisit the self-discovery process four times a year.

Don't miss: Fresh Start includes a Weekly Rhythm Ideas spread each quarter. As your setting and needs change each season (fall semester, spring semester, summer internship, etc.!) use it to refresh your ideal mix of habits, routines, workouts, rest, and time with friends.

Young Professionals 

What you're feeling: Adulting—it can be a lot! Whether you've landed your dream job, are still searching, or doing your best each day in what feels like a temporary position, your ability to manage your resources (time, money, emotional bandwidth) feels tested to the limit. You finally have the opportunity to act on what matters—to live where you'd like, eat what you'd like, spend your time and money the way you'd like—but it feels like you're constantly making trade-offs (and feeling disappointed in your decisions a good bit of the time). 

How we can help: Comparison is tenacious in this season of life. It's easy to look to the right or left and feel like everyone else has it all figured out, but comparison is the thief of joy. (It's the thief of everything!) We can help you learn to notice and appreciate all the ways you're living out what matters right now—and to build habits and routines that help you do so even more.

You might love: The Fresh Start goal planner combines the best of the PowerSheets goal-setting process with our fan-favorite daily or weekly agenda pages. With a tight 90-day timeline, you'll feel motivated to make big progress on your big goals—and tend to the little details that make life feel good along the way!

Don't miss: The Cultivated Life Evaluation and yes/no lists will be key tools to lock in contentment and find the good right here, right now.

Moms in the Thick of It 

What you're feeling: Joyfully overwhelmed pretty well sums it up, no? Whether you have one child or five, whether they're toddlers or high schoolers, mothering the kids in our home—caring for them physically and emotionally—while also caring for ourselves adds up to a full day every day. It's not that your big dreams have been forgotten (in fact, some might feel more urgent than ever), but there are so many tiny details to attend to, too - and not much time to sit down with a pen and planner.

How we can help: It's easy to lose your center when you're pulled in many different directions. However, your stable core is a foundation your family can build on. When you feel at home with yourself, proud of who you are, and satisfied with how you're living your days, that peace will extend to everyone around you. Our tools will remind you what matters in the big picture and help you take small steps to move toward that vision every day—even the most hectic ones.

You might love: If a goal planner feels like more than you need right now, try the Season by Season agenda. With daily or weekly layouts (you choose!), you can keep track of work hours, tasks, extracurriculars, and much more—all alongside simple frameworks for habit building, goal setting, and memory making.

Don't miss: Weekends don't slow down for moms! Both the SBS daily and weekly versions include the same amount of real estate for Saturdays and Sundays, something many planners skimp on.

Career Women 

What you're feeling: You love your work. You love what it's made possible in your life, you love the people it's connected you to, and you love the impact you're able to have there. But sometimes, it can feel like work gets your best and everything else gets the leftovers. You want your life at home to feel just as purposeful, meaningful, and consistent as life at the office does.

How we can help: Throughout the history of PowerSheets, we've noticed something interesting: women come to their goal planner intending to use it to achieve work pursuits, but instead end up setting personal goals. There's something about the vulnerable, thoughtful questions of the Prep Work that seems to tap into big-picture dreams and desires that might otherwise have lain dormant. 

You might love: If you're looking to rebalance your passion and energy across work and home, the combination of One-Year PowerSheets and the Season by Season agenda is for you. You'll get the full reflection experience along with plenty of space to record action steps, events, and appointments.

Don't miss: The "name what matters" page in the Prep Work will likely be a hinge point— it's a true lightbulb moment for many Cultivators. Also, if you're used to setting goals at work, the Goal Action Plan pages for breaking down your goals will likely feel familiar and refreshing all at once!

Empty Nesters 

What you're feeling: In a word— free. With kids out of the house and employment winding down, it's been decades since you had so much autonomy in your schedule. This is both intoxicating and terrifying. How can you make meaning out of your days when there aren't as many people relying on you? How can you spend your time well and banish distractions when it feels like you have all the time in the world? How can you reconnect with what really matters to you when you've lived for so long for others? 

How we can help: While PowerSheets are powerful for women in every season, our very favorite opportunity (shh!) might be pressing them into the hands of recent retirees or empty nesters. A new season deserves thoughtful reflection, and the Prep Work delivers. These pages are a place to be honest, to hold your hope and disappointment, and to make a plan to move forward with pragmatism and joy. We're so excited for you.

You might love: One-Year PowerSheets, absolutely, and your choice of the Season by Season daily or weekly agenda if you feel you need more room than a monthly spread to record appointments and events. 

Don't miss: Life can change fast even when it seems like it should be slowing down: a child moves back home, a new grandchild arrives, a volunteer opportunity pops up, an aging parent needs more assistance. The quarterly refreshes will help you adjust your goals as you go, accommodating every curveball that comes your way.

We'd love to hear: what season are you in right now, of goal setting or life? What Cultivate What Matters tool has been a good fit? Let us know in the comments!