EP 111: Design Your Life, Then Set Your Career Goals: Purpose-Driven Personal Growth for Moms in STEM

About this episode

This episode discusses the importance of life planning over mere goal setting for moms in STEM to achieve a balanced and purposeful life.

Life Planning vs. Goal Setting Are you checking off goals but still thinking, "I'm constantly trying to juggle a million things at once, and I'm not doing any of them well"? Maybe you've hit milestones—passed exams, published papers, earned promotions—yet there's this quiet voice saying, "The things I want to be doing are not part of my life right now… I don't feel like myself." If life planning for moms sounds like just another productivity hack, think again. This episode reveals why goal setting alone keeps high-achieving STEM moms stuck in the binary choice between career and family—and how designing your life, then setting your goals, creates the integrated, purposeful path you've been missing. In today's episode, I share the critical difference between life planning and goal setting, why your pre-motherhood identity (intellectual rigor, contribution, mastery) doesn't have to conflict with the mom you want to be, and a simple three-step experiment to anchor your personal growth in a holistic life vision instead of random achievement. This episode is for professionally-trained moms in science, tech, or PhD research who are tired of work-life balance feeling like a myth and…

People in this episode

Host: Anokhi Kapasi

Topics covered

• life planning
• goal setting
• work-life balance
• personal growth
• career goals
• moms in STEM

Keywords

• life planning
• goal setting
• work-life balance
• personal growth
• STEM moms
• career goals
• identity

More episodes of Science Careers for Moms | Women in STEM, Work-Life Balance, Career Goals, Career Planning, Decision Making

• EP 118: How to Explain a Career Gap in STEM (Without Sounding Defensive) · June 8, 2026 · 28 min
• EP 117: Women in STEM Can Earn More Money While Protecting Time & Energy [Wealth Advocate - Sarah Walton] · May 26, 2026 · 49 min
• EP 116: How To Pursue Career Goals in Science Without Mom Guilt | Work Life Balance Tips · May 11, 2026 · 27 min
• EP 115: Women in STEM: 6 Work‑Life Balance Traps Disguised as “Helpful” Advice · April 27, 2026 · 26 min
• EP 114: Women in STEM Advice | Do You Have a Skills Gap or Imposter Syndrome? [Dr. AJ Lauer] · April 13, 2026 · 48 min
• EP 113: How to Get Unstuck as a Scientist When Motherhood Changes Everything | Life Planning 101 · March 30, 2026 · 26 min