It’s the end of the year and you’re probably already envisioning the new you for 2020.
Unfortunately, there’s no magic New Year’s spell that helps you break all your bad habits. That takes work, envisioning, and a good support team.
And what better support team than your own family?
While personal goals are important for achieving your own dreams, family goals are important, too.
Why You Should Set Family Goals for 2020
Setting family goals creates a sense of unity through shared victories and challenges. It also teaches your kids the goal setting process, which will give them a head start in learning not only how to dream big, but how to put those dreams into action.
Setting goals together also reminds you and your family about what matters. As you all share your visions with each other, it paints a picture of your common hopes and values.
Perhaps one of the most important factors of goal setting is that it works! According to a 2015 psychology study, people who fleshed out and wrote down their goals were 33% more likely to achieve them than people who kept their goals stored away in their head.
How to Follow Through on Family Goals for the New Year
Setting family goals is one thing, but following through on them takes strategy and maintenance. A fun, tactile way to set family goals is to create a family vision board.
Your family vision board will be uniquely yours, and can serve as a daily reminder of the solidarity you have with each other and the big things ahead for all of you.
Choose a medium, or more specifically the materials you’d like to use. Will it be a collage of magazine cutouts? A painting or drawing? Maybe it’s a combination of all of those.
Prepare your goal setting process, then grab the scissors and markers and let the fun begin! Follow the steps below to create a vision board that will help your family envision a 2020 to look forward to.
Step 1: Determine Your Vision
Before you dig into the art supplies, take some time as a family to check in with one another.
Start by trying out the Ziglar Wheel of Life Checkup. This is a test that helps you gauge in which areas your family is already thriving, and areas for growth or improvement.
The categories include:
- Relationships
- Financial
- Communication
- Work/School-Life Balance
- Community
- Spiritual/Thought Work
- Physical
The test is 35 questions, so don’t be discouraged if your younger kids lose a bit of interest and you have to spice up the process, or give them a break.
Once you have your results, pick 1-2 categories to focus on in 2020. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with all 7.
Write down your goals for each category, both as individuals and as a team. Brainstorm ways you can help each other with your personal goals.
For example, if your son would like to raise his GPA one point, maybe helping him with math homework more often can be part of your goal to make more one-on-one time. Or if your daughter wants to become a better artist, perhaps a milestone would be completing 2 paintings a week.
Step 2: Choose Your Medium
One of the first questions artists are often asked is, “What’s your medium?”
While your family vision board isn’t going to be in the running for display at the Louvre, it’s still a way to tap into your inner artist and step out of the box.
While magazine clippings can be a blast and allow for plenty of creativity, this is a great time to step up your game in 2020 by trying new things.
Gather things like inspiring letters, photos of the loved ones who you’d like to spend more time with, or trinkets that remind you of future travel plans. Have a goal to eat better? Cut out photos of deliciously healthy foods. Want to have more quality family time? Include a photo of your family surrounded by drawings or images of ideas for activities.
You can also create your own drawings or phrases that help define your vision.
Once you have all the images you need for your vision board, grab some glue and create a collage.
You can each do an individual board and hang them side by side, do a combined board, or find a fun way to combine your individual ones into one big vision board.
Step 3: Rewards for Hitting Goals
While your vision board dries, have everyone in the family set some milestones for your goals so you’ll know when you’re each on the right track.
If someone in your family wants to become a better pianist, a good milestone would be practicing 3 times a week. Looking to travel more? A great milestone for that would be saving $100 a month in your travel jar.
Once you’ve fleshed out your milestones, work on defining rewards once each of you have hit your small goals.
Rewards are a crucial component of sustaining motivation on the track to success. They give you tangible encouragement to keep going.
And celebrating milestones not only gives us a nice hit of dopamine that keeps us moving forward, but it creates space for everyone in your family to stop and appreciate the moment.
Maybe when that GPA your son is trying to raise goes up .5 points, he gets to pick a fun family outing. Or when your husband runs 3 mornings in a row to train for a marathon, he gets a couple hours of uninterrupted TV time.
Creating a family vision board is a great bonding experience that can last you throughout the year. You’ll get to know each other a little better, and with that how to support each other’s goals and aspirations.
After all, a family should be the strongest team you have!
While you’re enjoying the family bonding, schedule some fun new things to do together in the new year. Check out our guide to this winter’s family-friendly performances around Colorado »