Enrich your family life through family goal setting. Learn what it is, how it will help strengthen family relationships, and check out some goal ideas to help you get started.
A family is more than simply a group of people who live together. A family is a cohesive unit of people who live together and share similar values. Those family values are the glue that binds a family unit together and provide a guide for creating family goals.
What are family goals? They are objectives that every family member works towards accomplishing.
For example, one goal might be to go on a family vacation. As a family, each person plays a part in making that happen. Another goal idea might be to host a family movie night every Friday and every family member makes it a point to avoid scheduling anything else on that night.
These goals can be easily attainable as long as everyone is involved and actively working to make it happen.
If I’m being completely honest, family goal setting wasn’t something we really did before 2019. We each went our separate ways, and hope the calendars align. I understand, our family may be way different than many since my husband traveled so frequently prior to March 2020, and we really didn’t plan anything. We were at the mercy of a client and if they needed to see him. We couldn’t really plan vacations, or even a weekly date night.
If you haven’t sat down as a family and brainstormed ideas and come up with a goal or two to work toward, I want to encourage you to try it!
How to Use Family Goal Setting to Strengthen Your Family Bond
Why Is Goal Setting With Families Important
Why is family goal setting something to incorporate into your family life? Doesn’t it just make more work for the parents?
Actually the opposite is true. Family goal setting doesn’t create more work – it lightens the load because everyone is pitching in for the “reward” at the end.
Although, perhaps the biggest reason for setting goals together as a family is that the process builds an even stronger connection as a family unit because all members are working toward accomplishing a common goal.
It has some other cool benefits too, such as:
- Learning things together to move forward and grow together.
- Setting family goals makes family members think about what’s important to them.
- Achieving more when everyone works toward a common goal.
- Teaches children a life skill they need to learn before they go out and live on their own.
- Research shows that people who work towards achieving a goal live happier, more satisfied lives.
Family Goal Setting
Now that you have an idea of why setting goals together as a family is beneficial, what are goals that families can set and work on together?
When COVID hit in March 2020, things changed drastically, as I’m sure it did in most homes. We were home all the time, we needed to get a plan together that actually worked for everyone. We started to plan dinners, and when we could vacation, more than a day ahead. I decided to get a Peloton and have some more accountability in the fitness department. We started planning when we would go to Hawaii, since it’s our yearly vacation and who we would take. Our plan and common goal was to get there by the end of 2020, no matter what we had to do.
Another goal we have as a family and more long term is to grow our rental home number and business on a regular basis. We had to figure out how to manage the funds for the remodels, and also keep the units full among the pandemic.
I sat down and brainstormed a list of examples, but this list is by no means exhaustive. I hope it inspires you to think of and set a goal that’s not even listed!
Plant a Garden
Growing a garden together is a fun way to produce something very tangible.
If this is something you want to do, you can sit down and for family meetings to:
- plan your garden space
- decide what you want to grow
- prepare the soil
- plant the seeds
- water the plants
- weed
- harvest the hard-earned fruits of your labor.
Then you take it a step farther by working together to incorporate your homegrown food into your meals.
A garden is a great way to see something through from start to finish together and it’s a great way to keep younger kids engaged in the process! Plus, tending to a garden over several months is a great way to spend quality time as a family.
Plan and Save for a Family Vacation
Who wants to go to Disney World? Ok, nothing says you need to plan a trip to Disney, but 
Family goal setting works well for a family vacation because everyone can pitch in to help determine the destination, save money to put toward the trip, and plan activities.
Get Physically Active Together
Physical activity is good for your mental health and physical health. You might even go so far as to say that they who sweat together stay together 😁 A great idea of a healthy familial goal is to be active together.
Maybe you take the dog for a walk as a family every day. Or perhaps you train together to run a 5K and then do it. Hiking, skiing, tubing, playing sports, biking, are even more ways to get active together and also double as great quality time ideas!
Divide the Chores
If you find that one or two people take care of the bulk of the household workload, it might be time to set a family goal of dividing chores among all family members. This allows all members to share the workload. And it also gives every member an important sense of ownership in the family.
Learn a New Skill Together
Facing a challenge and overcoming it together is a great way to approach family goal setting!
Try learning a new skill together such as fishing, cooking, dancing, or even learning a new language. Everyone learns a new skill they will need in life and gains valuable experience of positive ways to tackle challenges in life. Plus, you might just have some family fun together learning something new.
Eat More Fruits and Veggies
Set a goal to eat a certain number of servings per day. Let every family member help with 
With a goal like this one, every member will benefit both from helping share the workload and eating healthier.
* A tip for getting the kids on board with eating more fruit — Find cute containers to store the fruit in, like these.
Volunteer Together
Helping others who need a hand in some way is a fantastic family activity that benefits the family members as well as the people they help. It can even become a new family tradition.
Volunteering ideas may include things such as spending time helping extended family with chores or yard work, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or wrapping gifts for less fortunate kids during the holiday season. The possibilities are endless!
Spending Time Together as a Family
From my experience, spending time together as a family on a regular basis is much easier to do when the kids are little. As they get older, busier, and want to hang out with their own friends, it becomes harder to carve out time as a family.
If you’re in this situation, family goal setting could mean dedicating a day or evening each week that your family spends together. It could be family dinner, family movie night, or family game night. Let everyone have input on how they would like to spend that time together.
Begin a Family Book Club
Want to encourage spending less time on devices and more time reading or having engaging conversations? A family book club is an excellent way to do all of this at one time! Less screen time and video games, and more active learning.
Brainstorm new book titles during family time and even let all family members propose discussion questions to cover when you sit down at the dinner table to discuss the book you all read. For a real treat, follow up book club night with some yummy ice cream. That’s something everyone can look forward to!
Starting a Family Goal and How to Decide on Which Goal to Make
Not sure where to start? I suggest approaching family goal setting in this way your first time. After you go through the process a few times, you may modify the exact steps slightly for your family, but here’s a good way to begin.
1. Start by asking each family member about their personal goals.
Also ask each person to name something they see as challenges in family life that could be improved. If you need more ideas, ask everyone to say something they’ve always wanted to try but have been too afraid. Write all of these ideas and thoughts down.
2. Take this list and narrow it down by eliminating items that won’t work at this time.
Use the SMART goal method to set you up for goal setting success and help you track and meet your objectives. The SMART method will help you break down a long term goal into smaller short term goals to help you stay on track.
3. Vote on the final long term goal.
I recommend only implementing one goal at a time, especially when you first start!
4. Set specific measurable short term goals and timelines.
Decide on the milestones you want to achieve and when – and write them down!
5. Get to work!
6. Build in a reward to enjoy once you accomplish the goal together.
7. Sit down together and evaluate how the process went, how you can improve it, and begin working on a new goal!
It is through challenges that we grow. When we can do that together as a family, we strengthen our family bonds. The ultimate purpose of family goal setting is to build a stronger, healthier, and happier family, and that only happens when every family member feels connected and part of the process.
I hope this post helps you plan family goals and transform your family in new and powerful ways!
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