Is it just me or is the New Year a breath of fresh air. I know so many of my friends that had a really hard year in 2021. The struggles were unrelenting and the year seemed to just keep throwing them down. I myself can’t complain much about the year. My family was healthy, we had time to adventure and giggle, work and be still. Yet, this past week as we ushered out 2021 and have begun this new year I feel absolutely ignited with excitement and passion for all that is coming. I know this year will wrap up Freshman year of HS on our homeschooling journey, new aspects of my business will begin and the desires of my heart will be abundantly given.
In our home New Years Eve and/or New Years day is spent in goal setting and preparation. This tradition began a many years ago when my mini me was a bit too young to truly understand what we were doing. Now, as we escaped to my office to begin the process it was with anticipation on her behalf. She had ideas of what she wanted to put on the family vision board. We start the process by each doing a balanced wheel of life exercise. This is a simply pie chart with each piece of the pie representing an area of our lives. The idea is that you rate the area in terms of how well you feel it has been going. Do you want more in that area? Do you feel completely satisfied with it? Or is it totally absent? The goal is not to have the highest rating on each area but rather that each area is relatively balanced. I like to think of a wheel on a wagon. It doesn’t matter if they are all completely full as long as they are even the wheel will move forward and anything can happen.
After that exercise is done we each do our own goals for the year. We start by looking at what areas on our wheel need a little improvement. Last year for my daughter it was school She wanted more “fun” and less workbooks. As I homeschool her that was an easy shift to make and this year she rated school much higher up the satisfaction level. I LOVE that at her age of14 she knows how to make such a huge impact in her own life. After our personal goals are laid out we create a family board of what we want to see this year and hang it in the office and we refer to it often.
I know not every family will take the time or dedicate the resources to create such an opportunity but I encourage you all to at least devote a few minutes with your loved ones to see what you want to create together this year. I have found for myself the more focus I can give to what I intentionally plan to create in my life the less I feel stuck. I know I am empowering my family to be the captains of our lives rather than a victim of whatever circumstances come our way.