How to set family goals
Last Updated on April 19, 2024
When we think about goal setting, we normally think about goals we’ll set for ourselves.
However, another type of goal that we can set are family goals, which help us to grow as a family, and work towards improving certain areas of family and home life.
If setting family goals is something you’re interested in, here is some information on what family goals are, timelines you can choose, why they’re important, how to set them, and some easy family goal examples to provide you with some inspiration when setting your own family goals.
What are family goals?
Family goals are areas that you’d like to work on as a family, that allow your family to grow, or that allow your family to work towards longer-term goals.
Family goals cover a wide variety of family life, including finances, health, relationships, or anything else that improves the state of your family’s wellbeing, lifestyle, or interests.
Family goal timelines
The goals that you set for your family can be daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or even just a one off.
Here’s an example of a family goal for each of these timelines:
- Daily – eating dinner as a family every night
- Weekly – taking a family walk every Sunday morning
- Monthly – having family game night the first Saturday of the month
- Yearly – organising a family reunion every Christmas
- One off – taking a family trip to Disneyland
Why are family goals important?
Family goals are important for many reasons, some of these include:
- Giving your family something to work towards
- Allowing family bonds to develop and strengthen
- Teaching your kids what it takes to be part of a family
- Getting your kids to learn skills they need in adulthood
How to set family goals
Here are some ways that you can set some family goals.
Get everyone involved
One of the best ways to get everyone working on a goal is to make sure you have goals that everyone values.
You can do this by sitting down as a family and making a list of the family goals each family member wants to achieve, then making a shortlist of goals ensuring that every family member has a goal on this list.
This makes each family member feel like their goal is important, therefore increasing the chances of them wanting to achieve other family member’s goals as well as their own.
Write them down
Writing family goals down and displaying them where everyone can see them is a fantastic way to make sure everyone remembers what the goals are, and to remind everyone to work on them.
Some places where you can display your family’s goals are on the fridge, in the living room, or on a shared family calendar.
Keep them simple
When setting goals there’s many resources teaching you how to set SMART goals, which basically means goals need to be clear, have a timeline attached to them, and be achievable.
However, not all of us have time to set goals in this way, and for many of us, myself included, setting goals in this way complicates them so we give up on them before we even start to work on them.
Instead, make family goal setting easy by deciding on a family goal, breaking it down into small steps, and writing each step into your calendar or planner on the date you want to start working on it, or when it needs to be done.
Family goal examples
Once you’re ready to set family goals, here are some easy ones that you may like to try, or modify so they’re relevant to your family.
Plan monthly weekend days out
Planning monthly family days out to a place your family already loves, or somewhere new, is a great way to add excitement to your family’s weekends, as well as create family memories.
Some family day out ideas include:
- Aquariums
- Farms
- Gardens
- Historical sites
- Movies
- Museums
- Parks
- Zoos
Start extracurricular activities
Getting your kids involved in extracurricular activities can be a great family goal, and there are many different extracurricular activities for kids to try.
Some of these include sport, scouts, girl guides, music, or drama.
Take weekly family walks
Taking weekly family walks is a great way to get some fresh air, as well as improve your family’s physical and mental health.
Eat dinner together
Eating dinner together could mean going out for dinner one night a week, eating dinner together as many nights as you can, or any variation of time that suits your family’s stage and lifestyle.
Spend one on one time together
Spending quality time with our kids by spending one on one time with them once a month, or any other timeline, makes your kids feel special, and will strengthen your bonds with them.
This could mean spending a whole day with one kid at a time, or doing something at home with each kid like baking, puzzles, or watching a movie.
Family game nights
Family game nights are a great way for your family to have fun together, as well as teach your kids about working in a team, and good sportsmanship.
Book a family holiday
Family holidays can be as long or short as you like, and don’t have to involve going overseas, they can also involve staying somewhere local for a couple of nights.
If you have little ones, taking a family holiday may feel like a lot of work, but there are many ways you can entertain kids while travelling, and you can also stay in a hotel with kids to save on accommodation costs.
Improve family communication
Improving how your family talks to each other, can decrease family arguments.
Some ways you can improve family communication include setting rules on how everyone needs to talk to each other, such as making it a rule that when someone is talking you can’t interrupt, or holding regular family meetings so each family member can discuss issues they’re having, and everyone needs to come up with solutions on how to resolve it.
Read to your kids nightly
Reading to your kids is a great way to spend time with them, and even if you have a toddler there are many toddler books that you can read to them to spark their imagination, and increase their attention span and language skills.
If you have older children, there are many books for kids that have deeper storylines that you can enjoy together.
Start a family tradition
There are many family traditions that you can start, including movie nights, cooking nights, back to school traditions, Christmas traditions, and even seasonal traditions including summer, autumn, winter and spring family traditions that you may like to start.
Start a chore chart
Giving your kids chores, and using a family chore chart to help them remember what their chores are, provides your kids with a sense of responsibility, and teaches them what it takes to run a household.
Some chore ideas for young kids include setting the table, sorting laundry, or putting toys away.
Chore ideas for older kids include taking care of pets, putting the rubbish out, or doing laundry.
Start a family garden
Starting a family garden teaches your kids how to care for things, and if you plant fruit and vegetables you can start to eat healthier as a family, as well as save money on groceries.
Work on a home project
Each month your family could choose a home project to work on, some examples for this family goal are decluttering, decorating bedrooms, reorganising living areas, creating reading corners, or building a tree house or playground.
Create a family bucket list
Creating a family bucket list gives you lots of great things to do during times where you have spare time, but don’t know what to do with it.
You could create different family bucket lists, like a bucket list for the year, a month, season, or even a family Christmas bucket list.
Setting family goals is a great way to strengthen family bonds, provide your family with something to work towards, and even be something that your kids may continue on with their own family.
What family goals would you like to set?
