The New Year is when a lot of people make big plans for the year. I’m guilty of it too. Every year I would sit down and think about all the things that went wrong during the previous year and then resolve to do better in the new year. Can I just be honest for a second and tell you that before January was over I’d slipped back into old habits. Nothing changed for me. The problem was not that I was making resolutions, the problem was that I wasn’t being purposeful about my plans.

This year I decided that I needed to be more purposeful in my planning. There are definitely things that I wanted to change going into the new year. There are goals and achievements that I wanted to work towards as well.  There are a few key areas that I wanted to focus on for 2014: spiritual life, relationships, health, intellectual growth and fun! I also decided to include my boys in planning as well.

Setting Goals  for Yourself

I love that there is an attitude of a fresh start during this time of year. Fresh mercies I like to call it. Here are some of the goals that I’ve set for myself for 2014:

• Spiritual Life: read through the entire bible, memorize 12 verses, develop a habit of rising early for devotions
• Relationships:  more one on one time with each of my boys each week
• Health: regular exercise at least 5 days a week, more sleep and eating less sugar
• Intellectual growth: read 24 books during the year {at least 2 a month}
• Fun: horse back riding and karaoke

Setting Goals with Your Children

After working on my list I thought that it would be fun to get my little ones to set some goals. I didn’t sit my boys down and ask them what their spiritual goals were for the year but I did ask them what they’d like to do or learn during the new year.

My 7 year old’s list:

• Go back to Disney World
• Not lose my temper so much
• Write to my pen pal each month
• Learn to do tricks with my scooter, bike and skateboard

My 5 year old’s list:

• Disney World!
• Learn to tie my shoes
• Read chapter books like my big brother
• Help mommy by washing dishes

Setting Goals as a Family

I wanted to see if we could come up with some goals as a family. I really love the idea of working toward something together.  Here’s what we came up with:

• Family Vacation {can you guess where my boys want to go?}
• Memorize scripture together as a family
• Monthly “Family Fun Day”

What kinds of goals have you set with your family for the new year?