The New Year is quickly approaching! The start of a new year is a great time to put into place goals and establish habits to improve your life. A lot of people like to set personal goals like losing weight or saving money. However, setting a family goal can be a fun way to accomplish positive changes in your home while strengthening your relationships. Plus, when you set a family goal, you can share the sense of accomplishment together. You also are more likely to succeed because you will be able to hold each other accountable and have a built-in support system.
To facilitate your family goal setting, I broke this process down into simple steps.
- Start by having a family barnstorming session. Have everyone share their ideas on something the family could work toward. If you are having trouble formulating ideas, think of something that your family do more or less of to make your home a happier, calmer place.. Or think of a problem in your household that needs to be addressed. If your family isn’t pulling their weight in completing household chores, that could be a great goal to work toward.
- After you have gathered ideas, choose 1 or 2 goals to focus on. Try not to choose too many or it will be difficult to keep track of.
- Decide on family rewards. Choose one for each goal you set. These can be bigger things like going to a concert together or small like a family movie night.
- Once you have all of this nailed down, make goal statements that are specific and measurable. So instead of, “Spend more time together.” say “We will spend more time together by having family game night each week and eating dinner together twice a week.”
- Write down the goals you choose and post them somewhere in the home where everyone can see them.
- Buy a cheap calendar and designate it as your Goal Calendar. Each day, track your progress on the calendar. For example, if your family goal is to do 2 family dinners each week, make sure you write it on calendar.
- At the end of each month, sit down together and see if you reached your goal. If so, celebrate with your family reward!
Here is a list of 25 ideas to get you started. But remember, when you decide on your goal to make it specific for your family!
- Volunteer together.
- Exercise together weekly.
- Eat healthier meals.
- Read more together.
- Spend quality time together each week.
- Less screen time.
- Have daily conversations with each other.
- Take more pictures together.
- Go to bed earlier.
- Save money for a family trip.
- Be more respectful to each other.
- Learn a new hobby together.
- Attend church more regularly.
- Learn a new language together.
- Eat more meals together.
- Be on time.
- Pray together.
- Visit extended family members more frequently.
- Get outdoors more frequently.
- Show affection to each other every day.
- Set a weekly budget.
- Practice gratitude together daily.
- Have weekly family meetings.
- Use kinder language in the home.
- Everyone does their part in the home by completing chores.
I was telling a friend about this article and she told me about a challenge her family did together called 1000 Hours Outside. This is a fun challenge if you want to get your family off their screens and motivate them to get outside. Visit their website www.1000hoursoutside.com for ideas, free trackers, coloring sheets and more. There is even an app to help keep you on track with your goal. I think this is one of the ideas I am going to present to my family when we are trying to decide on a goal. No matter what goal you choose, doing this process together as a family can bring you closer while improving your lives for years to come. And don’t forget to enjoy the journey towards reaching your family accomplishments, the quality time together is what matters the most!
