TURNING YOUR DREAMS INTO A REALITY

Does your family set goals together, or is this even a practice that you commit to on your own? When I was younger, I don’t recall much discussion about goal setting at all. That's not a slight against my parents. I just don't remember goals being emphasized the way they are today. Sure everyone spoke about New Year's Resolutions but not setting goals. Maybe because I'm older now, but I see goal setting, or people discussing goals, a lot more.

When do you start to get your kids to commit to setting goals for themselves? A couple of years ago, our daughter Camryn decided she wanted to do the splits. She set this goal for herself, and that was that. She didn't say, "I'm setting this goal for myself" she just expressed the desire. She never spoke about it much after that, but wouldn’t you know about a year and a half later, she could do the splits. This was no small feat because, when she started, she was about 2 feet off the ground. These days she’s working on the middle splits, and if I know her, she’ll get there. So what is it that lies within us that drives us to want to set goals? I know for myself goal setting is something we focus on at my job. Every quarter I’m focused on setting my goals for the quarter ahead. Because of this, it makes me focus on my personal goals.

Everyone has a vision of the future they want. Goals are a means to get there. You can’t simply wish for something to be. It’s gonna take hard work, determination and effort. So why is it we don’t always achieve our goals? I know I've lost sight of my goals when I become overwhelmed by life. I know the path I'm on but, I get distracted and lose direction when everyday occurrences take away my attention. Getting back on track is forgotten until finally, I put the brakes on and realize how far I've strayed from my goal. It can be hard to change direction and refocus, but I set new goals and move on. So why this blog about goals today? Well, it's a new year which inevitably means you or your family members have set some goals for the year ahead. Or resolutions as they may be called in your home. I've set many for myself. One of my goals is to stick to my goals. But another one is to get our kids to set goals for themselves. This isn't something we've formally spent much time on with our kids, but they are getting older, and I think it's time they begin the practice of putting their dreams into action. It's not to say the kids aren't already doing this for themselves, but I would like them to reflect when they're my age and recall goal setting as a focus. These are just good habits to get into. So I wish you well in achieving the goals you've set (or not) for yourself for the year ahead. I plan to let you know how mine are going. Shannon, The Herdmother