Family Goals

I don't know about you, but I am a very goal oriented individual. I am constantly setting goals for myself, small or large, it doesn't really matter... but I always have at least one goal I'm currently working on. Maybe it's a goal to read my Bible in a year, to wash 5 loads of laundry in a single day, to lose that extra few pounds or to save up for that dream camera I would love to have. We expect that by reaching these goals, we will somehow have improved our quality of living in one way or another. Which is true - reading my Bible in a year will definitely help out my spiritual life... washing 5 loads of laundry will mean everyone in my house will have clean clothes the next day... losing a few pounds will improve my health and that dream camera would improve the quality of the many pictures I take. (and boy do I ever take a lot of pictures!)

Meet my happy family of 5! (Taken the day after having my third child.) And while Brayden is still a little young to be included in brainstorming goal ideas for our family, Kirsten & David have gotten to an age where they like to voice their opinions and Matt and I needed a way to listen. Hence the need for family goals.

Family goals can be a great way to build a stronger family but like any goal, there are a few things you want to keep in mind when creating family goals.

• Include Everyone - As you brainstorm goals, make sure that everyone's voice is heard and accepted. Get all the ideas out (and on paper too) and then let a day or two pass before choosing how to prioritize them. That way you give everyone's ideas a chance to sink in and really be heard.



• Set a TIME LIMIT to reach your goal: Without a time limit, you may find yourself saying you'll work on it tomorrow or the next day and before you know it, your family goals will be like most people's New Years Resolutions - non-existent. (Ok, so maybe I'm speaking for myself here, hehe.)



• Create goals that are ATTAINABLE: No one wants to strive towards something they no that they will never reach, so make sure that the goals you set can be reached within your time limit - especially when you are first starting out!



• Make sure your goals are MEASURABLE: It can be discouraging when you don't see change - so make sure that regardless of the goal, every so often you can stop and see that you have made progress. Saving money to go on vacation is great and you'll know how much you have collected, but if you don't have some idea of how much you want to save for the trip, you won't really know how close you are to achieving your goal.

Last year our family went on our first family vacation! We had the best time taking our kids to Disney World and spending the week relaxing and enjoying each other. Our kids loved the trip and as soon as we got home they were ready to do it again. So we decided to start saving for it. Now each week when we clean the house or when the kids find spare change in the car or in the laundry, they put it in our special jug. Every so often we dump out the jug and count to see where we are at. And while that jug isn't big enough to get us to Disney again, we are working our way to another vacation that we can all enjoy. The best part is that our kids (Kirsten is 6 and David is 4) actually really enjoy saving for this trip. I love it when David finds a dime... "Mommy, is this enough to buy a toy?" "No David, you'll need lots of dimes to get a toy." "That's ok mommy. I don't want a toy. Let's give to vacation." (I swear this is really what our conversations are like when he finds money!) And not only do we have a good time trying to reach our goals together as a family but the reward means spending more time as a family too!

Our 4th of July @ Cinderella's Castle

I would love to hear about the family goals that you and your family come up with or what you have learned once you achieve your goals - or if you already have family goals that you are working on, I would love to hear about them too!