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Image taken on 2006-08-29 07:59:05 by mollina.

“Goals are dreams with deadlines.” Diana Scharf Hunt

New Year’s Eve is our family holiday. It’s a special time we look forward to it all year. We plan for it, make time for it and protect it as ‘our’ time.

New Year’s Eve begins with grocery shopping. We shop together and pick out all our favorite fondue items. We buy a yummy dessert (calories don’t count) and stock up on snacks for later in the evening. There’s energy in the air as we shop. We’re all excited for our big night. And everyone follows the rule – no fighting on New Year’s Eve.

Each year, I cry as we prepare. I feel so lucky that my family truly wants to be together. Our kids tell us they will come back forever to celebrate New Year’s Eve with mom and dad even when they have kids of their own. I like to think they will. Knowing they’ll come back makes it makes it easier to think of them being gone some day.

We head home after shopping and spend the day cooking, setting the table, playing games and hanging out together. There is no going off to play videos, no going to your room alone. This day is family day! We cherish each moment.

When it gets dark, we begin our fondue. We all sit at the table and get comfortable. Our meal usually takes about two hours. The time flies – the kids don’t get bored. We just relax and enjoy being together. 

When the meal is finished, we all dash off to get our paperwork. Then we head upstairs to put together the annual “Neujahr Family Goal Board.” Our goal board is the reason our family loves New Year’s Eve so much. We’ve been doing this for ten years now. It’s so much fun but, more importantly, our goal board works. Our board challenges us to get serious about achieving our goals for the coming year.  

Prior to the evening, all family members have written down their top five to seven goals for the year. Each family member also writes as many family goals as he or she can think of. My husband and I also write our goals for our businesses and our marriage. 

We then sit in a circle, review last year’s goals, share our new goals and make a plan as to how we will achieve the new goals we are setting. Each person has a chance to review his or her goals from last year, sign and date the completed ones and then share the new goals for the coming year. Each family member shares his or her new goals for the year and other family members give feedback. 

Once everyone has shared his or her personal goals, we each share our vision for what our family goals will be. After we’ve all had a turn, we vote on the family goals that will go on our board. We also save space on our board for dreams. These are things that are too big to accomplish in a year but that are important to each member.           

Then we put the board together. (I have included the quick and easy directions for putting together a goal board below.) We hang it up, take pictures and stand back to admire our work. The board challenges us to get busy accomplishing our goals. 

Our goal board hangs in our entryway where it’s a constant reminder of where we are going. It’s also instant accountability. Anyone can check at any time to see where they are in accomplishing their goals. Family members can also hold one another accountable for goals not yet achieved. 

When we first put up our board we had no idea what would happen. But over the years it has initiated great conversations with guests, been a place to applaud one another and challenged others to set goals for their lives. 

Our New Year’s tradition has brought our family closer. Each year we commit time and energy into strengthening our relationships, achieving our goals together and learning how to dream big dreams. As a result of this tradition, we’ve changed our lives. Our goal board gives us a reason to keep connecting, to keep dreaming and to continually encourage one another toward our dreams. We take time each month during our family meetings to discuss our board and to encourage each member.           

Our family is committed to reaching our goals. We’re also committed to preserving our family time – not only at New Year’s but throughout the year. New Year’s Eve signifies what the holidays are all about for me – deepening relationships with those I love.

 Directions for creating your own family goal board:

Supplies Needed:

A Large Frame Tag board Markers Stickers A Willing Family and a Free Night

 Categories: Write 5 to 7 Goals in Each Category

Each Family Members Personal Goals

Family Goals

Dreams

Fun/Health/Travel/Success

Business/Career

Long Term Goals

Etc…

How to Create Your Own Family Goal Board:

Set aside a night with no distractions. Each family member must write out their personal goals and read them out loud. Once the personal goals are done, we then each write down three family goals and share them our loud. We use everyone’s ideas to create our family goals for the year. We then put all the goals on the board, decorate it and hang it in a highly visible place.

*Make your board personal for your family. Add whatever categories you need and then decorate with a style that’s all your own.

Variations/Suggestions:

101 List
Have each family member write down 101 things they want to do with their life. Encourage each member to really imagine what life could be like and what they want to do before they leave this earth. Make sure you keep copies of each person’s list – these are great to review during future goal setting sessions.

Dream Book
A dream book is simply a notebook with pictures in it. To make one you simply cut out or take pictures of your dreams and put them in my book. It’s a visual reminder of your goals and dreams. You can add to it continually – it’s a work in progress. It’s also a fun way to involve younger children in goal setting.

Word of the Year
One year we added ‘word of the year’ to our goal board. Everyone had to think about and choose a word for the year. The word represented the area of life that needed the most work. For example my word was follow-through and my son’s word was discipline. Our word was written with our goals and it served as a reminder of what we needed to work on for the year. 

Challenge:
Begin now. Write down your goals as a family. Brainstorm with your family about how you can create family traditions around setting and achieving goals.