Quarterly Planning with Purpose: Reverse Engineer the Life You Actually Want

Jul 31, 2025

I’ve been doing my own little quarterly planning retreats since 2020, and it’s hands down the most powerful tool I use to live in alignment - to drop the guilt, manage my energy, and consistently hit both personal and professional goals. I have done quarterly planning since 2015 but my retreat has been the biggest up-level in my business and life to date.

It’s a ritual I picked up early in my mentoring journey with Lorraine Murphy (highly recommend her resources here - they’re packed with gold). Since then, I haven’t skipped a single quarter.

If you’ve ever found yourself constantly sprinting, ticking boxes but wondering, “Is this even leading me where I want to go?”, you’re not off track.

You just need a better map.

Breaking the year into 3 months at a time is transformative. It gives you a purposeful reset, break and timeframe to work to.

So let me walk you through the quarterly planning process I use (also shared in our latest podcast episode), designed not just for business, but for whole-life alignment. Listen to the episode here.

Start With the End in Mind

Quarterly planning isn’t about cramming more into your calendar. It’s about aligning your next 90 days with your 5-year vision, the life you truly want.

Here’s the truth:

Your work is just one piece of the puzzle.

Before planning your projects, plan your life in wholeness:

What do you want your life to feel like in 5 years?
What are your values, priorities, and deep desires?
What needs to happen in the next year to move you closer to that vision?
What specific actions can you take in the next 90 days?

I break my vision down into areas like:

Home, family, development, money, travel, “nice things,” health, giving back but feel free to create categories that reflect your values.

Reverse-engineer everything. Clarity fuels progress.

My Quarterly Planning Retreat: Behind the Scenes

Every quarter - about two weeks before the quarter ends - I take myself away for 1–2 nights. These retreats are booked out for the year in advance, and I often book the next one before leaving the current one.

Tip: Choose somewhere inspiring. New places spark expansive thinking. I often start with movement, a massage, or time at a bathhouse to disconnect from the day-to-day.

Day 1: Reflect & Celebrate

Once I’ve landed, I spend the afternoon resetting. I might explore, move, or just breathe. Then I reflect.

That evening, I take myself out for dinner and mindfully celebrate my wins, professional and personal.

I’m always blown away by what I’ve actually achieved — more than I realised. Then I do a quick check-in with my 5-year and 1-year plans (which I only redo annually) and call it an early night.

Day 2: Plan with Intention

The next morning is for digging deep. I brain-dump everything on my mind, then distil it down into 3-5 priority goals for the quarter.

For each goal, I map:

The intention behind it
The action steps
What success looks like

Then I go straight to my calendar.

First: I block out personal and family time
Then: I layer in energy management, work and rest
Finally: I sync it all with Asana, turning each goal into a project with tasks, due dates, and assignees

After planning, I take time to rest, walk, explore - whatever I need.

Day 3: Review, Align, Activate

On the final morning, I review the plan, email my leadership team, and take one small action toward a goal.

Then I reward myself with something fun - a paddle board, a nice lunch, a little shop.

My Best Quarterly Planning Tips:

Schedule with your values in mind
Think big then simplify
Don’t do it to be “productive” - do it to be intentional
Create space. Make it beautiful. Let it inspire you.
Collaborate with your team, this isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing what matters
Reverse engineering is a game changer.

Ready to Plan with Clarity?

You can download my full Quarterly Planning Tips & Retreat Framework from my website, the exact process I use, including prompts for reflection, vision, goal-setting, and scheduling.

🎧 Plus, tune into our Quarterly Planning podcast episode where I walk through the mindset, method, and momentum behind this life-first business approach.