How to Set Family Goals to Thrive with Your Loved Ones Plus 25 Examples
How to Set family goals to live a happy, healthy life and thrive with your loved ones.
Before having a family of my own, I never really thought about the need to set family goals. Prior to being married David we’d come up with our own individual goals and discuss how we’d achieve them for the year. You can take a look at some great examples of personal goals you should set for yourself here.
Now that we’re married and have a little one who is yet young but very self aware, we want to include him in everything we plan as a family. We understand the importance of growing our family unit into one that is happy and healthy so we also set family goals to make sure we are tracking towards what we want to achieve as a family.
When I take a step back and look at the needs of a family with the family dynamic, it’s just a lot. You have to take care of yourself, but you may also have a partner with needs as well as children to consider. There’s also chores, finances, and various aspects of care and support that come into play. Choosing family goals that benefit the community creates purpose within yourself and within your household.
What are family goals?
Similar to personal goals in life that are made to achieve success, happiness, and fulfilment, family goals do this for the family. Family goals focus on the unit, or community well being of everyone instead of just one individual. Although, as each individual becomes successful in meeting his or her goals, it generally benefits the entire family.
Family goals are identified and agreed upon by each individual in the unit. It allows everyone to feel a part of the process to develop the family unit.
Why are family goals important?
In any family, each person is an individual, but their specific contributions to the family add to well-roundedness in the unit. Family goals focus on community and can bring your family closer together to meet common objectives. They help to motivate each person, facilitate accountability across the entire family, and even teach the younger children how to create their own goals and achieve them as they grow into teens and eventually adults. Family goals establish standards for the household by highlighting where the family currently stands and where they eventually want to be.
How do I set family goals?
Simply, you should begin setting family goals in the same way you set personal goals in life. Ask yourself a few questions to get started.
What in your family life is most important to you and your partner?
Have a discussion with your partner about pillars for the family, or what specific areas are most important to you. That can range from quality time to finances, and anything else.
What ideal family life do you imagine?
If everything could be perfect, what would you want? When you begin thinking of goals create them to be as close to this as you can, of course keeping in perspective that nothing is perfect. :)
What kinds of challenges in family dynamics have you witnessed and want to avoid?
Many have dealt with childhood trauma of various magnitudes. It’s reasonable that you wouldn’t want to repeat these things. Have discussions to begin creating goals that allow you to combat repeating similar situations.
What kind of legacy do you want passed down your family?
Ask yourself if you want to be in a position to leave a monetary legacy, specific traditions, etc.
Use the SMART Method to Set Family Goals
When you use the SMART method to goals you create a clear focus on a target to achieve what you want. SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.
Click HERE to get the printable How to Make SMART Goals guide to help you set your family goals!
Specific : Goals need to be well-defined and clear
Measurable: Goals should be measurable. For example, don’t just say you want more quality time with your partner. Quantify it by saying, for example, you want to have 2 dates a week with your partner .
Achievable: Goals should be attainable - challenging, but achievable. Don’t create a goal that your family can’t attain.
Realistic: Set goals that your family can really make happen.
Timely: Set a specific time frame for achieving your family goals.
Who should set family goals?
It’s important to be sure that all in the family are a part of setting the family’s goals. It makes everyone feel they are a part of the processes and that they are important to achieving the family’s goals. Family goals can be set around several items including but not limited to:
Quality time
Financials
Chores in the home
Physical and mental health
Spiritual and charitable
Setting Family Goals can positively impact your children
When you set family goals and include your children, you begin to instill values in them so they have motivation to create their own goals and achieve them. They learn the importance of having something to work towards and have motivation to achieve it. It also gives them a sense of pride in knowing they played a part in fulfilling goals that benefit the family. Your children will take what they learn from setting family goals and and can apply it themselves when they have their own families.
Here are 25 Examples of Family Goals!
Quality time family goals
Schedule date night with your partner
Schedule personal time with child(ren)
Have family movie nights
Plan to eat meals together
Have recreational activities and/or family vacations
Financial family goals
Create salary goals
Set family budgets
Create family savings goals
Start family savings and investment accounts
Begin life insurance plans
Home Management family goals
Establish cleaning chore schedules
Delegate cleaning chore tasks
Establish home maintenance items
Delegate home maintenance items
Create meal plans
Physical and mental health family goals
Plan and make healthy family meals
Have family physical activity time
Meditate as a family
Schedule annual physicals together as a family
Hold family journaling time together
Spiritual and charitable family goals
Attend service as a family
Have family bible study
Pray together as a family
Create a charity in the family’s name
Give to a charity as a family
I hope this has given you some good information on how to set family goals and how to reach them. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Setting goals with your family can be a rewarding experience, especially when you see the unity, hard work, and commitment from everyone pay off.
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