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Goal-setting

3 Family-Fun Activities

If you’re like most folks, you’ve at least thought about making a resolution or setting new goals as this new year rolls in. Why not take a little time to sit down with your family and discuss setting collective family goals or writing a family mission statement?
To get those creative juices flowing experts in family goal setting like Stephen R. Covey, author of the 7 Habits of Highly Successful Families, recommend a series of exercises or activities. Here are three family night activities to help you start the new year off right.

Activity 1 – Family Poster

Make a family poster or collage that represents how your family views success. Have everyone gather around the kitchen table and flip through magazines hunting for photos or headlines that they like. During this stage of the game you don’t need a reason why you are drawn to the image, you’re just preparing for what comes next, which is to agree on the images that each of you are going to glue onto a piece of poster board. While you’re doing this, ask your kids to discuss why they chose their photos. What piece of family success do the images your son tore out represent? For example are the photos linked to happiness, health, education, time together, art or music, technology, nature, volunteering, work, etc? If your family can agree that the image is a good representation of a component of your overall success as a family then glue it on the board! This is an excellent exercise for families with young children because no reading or writing is required, and they are very capable of expressing why they do or don’t like something.

Activity 2 – Free Writing

Try a “King or Queen for the Day” free writing activity. Give everyone in the family a piece of paper and ask them to describe what a day would be like if they were King or Queen for the day. What time would they wake up? What would they eat? What would everyone be doing? In free writing, don’t worry about editing or spelling or whether or not the story makes sense, you simply write for the time allotted – 15 minutes at the most. Children who are too young to write can draw pictures of their family kingdom. At the end of the timeframe, have everyone share their thoughts.

Activity 3 – Record Your Goals

Gather everyone around the table and talk about your family vision poster and their King/Queen for a day thoughts. What are the common themes? Note the words on a sheet of paper. Now work on writing, as a group, a statement that uses those words to describe your family’s perspective on the most critical elements to achieving success. Covey advises there is no one-size-fits-all for family goal setting/mission statements. Some families end up with a paragraph and others boil it down to a short motto. 
Whatever style you choose, it’s important that everyone has a hand in defining your family’s success. They are more likely to be diligent in following through with setting other goals and taking the steps necessary to make their visions a reality.

Lisa Jansen-Rees, MSW, ACSW, is a busy wife, mom, and writer.