New Year Family Goal Planning

If someone asked you about your family goals for 2023, you could probably name a few — take more family trips, eat healthier meals together, spend less time in front of screens, etc. But you’ve probably learned by now that goals rarely happen when you don’t make a plan to achieve them. So what if you scheduled a day to have a family goal planning session?

Don’t worry — this doesn’t have to be a long, boring, “sit-around-the-table-and-stare-at-each-other-for-an-hour” kind of thing. The goal is to encourage your kids to contribute, too, and if you want kids to engage in the process, it’s important to make it fun! Here are our recommendations for a successful New Year Family Planning Session.

  • Pick an intentional time and place for your meeting. Choose a comfortable (but non-distracting!) location, and make sure it’s at a time when everyone is least likely to be hungry, tired, or distracted.
  • Have some of your family’s favorite snacks nearby. Every meeting is more fun with snacks, right? 
  • Come prepared with at least one family goal in mind, but encourage your children to share what they would like to see your family accomplish in the new year as well. Write out these goals and place them somewhere easily visible.
  • Write down two to four action steps for each goal. If your goal is to spend less time in front of screens, decide how you’ll monitor screen time and list some alternative activities everyone could try. If your goal is to take more family trips, talk about some places you’d like to go and encourage your kids to help you think through ways you could create margin in your schedules and your family budget to make it happen.

If you come out of this family meeting energized by the process of planning together, you might love the idea of more regular planning sessions with your family. Head to our Elevation eKidz Pinterest page to find resources and ideas other families are using to plan together more intentionally this year!