Setting Family Goals

 

I am not a fan of new year’s resolutions.

Not because I don’t think they’re useful or motivating, but because I suck at them.

I had one “resolution” this year.  To write in my journal every day.

It’s been 7 days, and I’ve written in it once.

So, instead of beating myself up about it (which I’ve done enough of), I’ve decided to try something new this year.

This year we’re going to set some Wehkamp family goals.

I think Mr. B and Mr. C are old enough now to understand goals..

There is no hurry in accomplishing these goals, and I realize the goals may (and probably will) change at any time.  But it will be a place for us to start, and a reference point for our family as we move through the year.

Here is how I plan to establish our first Wehkamp family goals:

1. Set a time to sit down as a family. For our family, this will probably be during or after dinner. We enjoy chatting during dinner, and after dinner is nice because we all have full bellies and are usually looking for something to do together.

2. Explain to the boys what goals are by using examples they can relate to.  For Mr. B this might be prompting him to remember his goal of putting on a puppet show last night, and how he had to come up with the goal, a plan for it executing the goal, and then the feeling of accomplishment when it was over.  For Mr. C, I might remind him of how he had a goal this morning of loosening a knot in his shoe.  We can talk about determination, proud feelings and the need to ask for help sometimes.

3. Encourage everyone to brainstorm some goals they would like to accomplish this year.  I realize a year is a long time for a little one, and I fully anticipate that the initial goals they mention will take an hour tops to accomplish.  Chris and I will try to guide them to more long-term goals (a week maybe?!).

4. Ask everyone to choose 1, maybe 2 goals.

5. Let the boys help us write our goals on a piece of paper

6. Decorate, and display

Sharing our goals will fly in the face of the research and practices Chris described in his post last week, but these goals aren’t meant to be just individual tasks.

My hope is that this can be the start of a new family tradition, and that sharing our goals with each other will help us to get on the same page as a family, not just better ourselves individually.

What about you?  What are some goals that your family is working on right now?  Have you ever sat down to make goals together?