Having a vision for your life is so important. While personal goals are important, having family goals gives your family direction. Ask yourself, what do you want your family to do? What do you want your family to be like, strive for? It’s important that your whole family is on the same page with all of this. We all have a vision for our family and what we want our family to work towards.
On episode one of the Planning Parent Podcast I sit down with Jessica St. Pierre to discuss the importance of having a family vision board. Jessica is a mom of three and was a full time stay at home mom for eleven years. Together, her and I give you ideas to help you and your family get started. Family vision planning doesn’t have to be difficult. The Planning Parent is here to help you get organized and give you peace of mind.
What Is a Vision Plan?
What exactly is a family vision plan? A family vision plan is a place where families put goals, experiences, values and dreams on one board. Family vision boards are essential to getting your family organized and on the same page. Family vision plans will look different for every family but will hopefully get your family organized and on the same page.
Why Do We Create Them?
While every family will have different reasons for creating their vision board, Jessica mentions that for her family, family vision boards gives her children the opportunity to voice their opinions and ways they want to contribute to the family. Allowing our children to have a voice gives them a sense of ownership. A vision plan also creates a team mentality where you and your children must work together to achieve your goals. Family vision planning will give you and your family a sense of unity.
Categories For a Family Vision Board.
After creating your own reasons for a family vision plan the next step is to create categories for your plan. Jessica and I broke this up into eight different family values
–Family Time (One on one dates, family game night, family dinner time)
–Activities (Movie night, roller-skating, going to the beach)
–Health (Meal planning, having kids help with meals, home cooked meals)
–Financial (Allowance, showing children how to manage money, Teaching children to be generous)
–Education (Encouraging children to read, allowing children to choose what they want to read)
–Travel Adventures ( Allowing kids to choose what they want to do on vacation, weekend trips)
–Character (Teaching kids things like integrity, being positive, being kind)
–Spiritual and faith (Showing kids to have love for others, meditation)
Creating a Family Mission Statement
Once you have these pinned down, it’s time to create a family mission statement. Pick words or phrases from your family values and put them together into 3-5 sentences as a family mission statement. An example would be “We want to spend more quality time together, show more love, kindness and gratitude” it’s important to keep the family vision statement as simple as possible so that your little ones will understand.
From these will come family goals. Create 3-5 family goals that align with what you have in your family values such as planning weekend trips together and having meal times together. You and your family created this family vision board, now what? Implement monthly family meetings to make sure that you are all actively working on the family vision plan.
We offer free pintables such as an activities calendar, goal sheet etc. to help you get your family vision board up and running!
Remember – take a deep breath. You do matter. You’re doing a great job.
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