As we go into this new year, January is usually filled with resolutions and people wanting to better themselves. Sometimes these things stick, and sometimes they don’t. I don’t know about you, but my resolutions each year center around fitness and weight loss. Based on the gym commercials I’m seeing with deals left and right, I’d guess I’m not alone. But I woke up this morning with a new thought. I wanted to share because it may speak to you too! How cool would it be if I set a resolution or goal for being a better parent, in some way. Not just that, but I also wanted to set a goal for something I want to do with my family this year.
Here are the goals/resolutions I would like to put in place for my family. Maybe in sharing these with you, it can help spark some ideas if you are stuck. For me, I need to give my child more focused time. My child is 17, and yes, time goes way to fast! I know my time with him is more and more limited, so I need to make the most of the time I do get with him. So, I’m going to work on that. Being really present with him.
Second is that I want my family to start doing more fun activities again together. We used to take turns each weekend with doing an activity together and we’d rotate through which family member got to choose the activity. We had the best time! We did escape rooms together, went on hikes and bike rides, found the best cheeseburger in our area and more. But somehow, maybe because Jackson got a job, maybe because Dan started traveling more, regardless of the reason, we stopped being intentional about that time. I want to do this again. If my goal is for it to happen maybe once a month, it could really happen!
So how do I do make it stick? I mean, I must not have stuck to my weight loss resolution very regularly or I wouldn’t have to make the same resolution each year 😊. Eric challenged our team to look at our goals a little differently. While it’s great to set the big hairy goal for the year, to make it happen, you can set little goals in the short term. Maybe work on something this month that gets you a little closer to your goal. Or set a goal for each quarter, that can move you closer to getting to that bigger goal. But we all have to admit, setting some sort of goal and giving it a try is better than never setting the goal at all!