GOAL SETTING: Building Hope and Moving Forward as a Family

Everyday life with young children can be joyful, busy, and full of surprises. Between caring for little ones, keeping up the household, and working through everyday challenges, it can be easy for caregivers to just focus on getting through each day. However, creating goals, just for yourself or for the whole family, can give you something that you need in any season of life…hope. When your family sets goals, you create a sense of direction, possibility, and even confidence in the future.

Why Goals Matter

Goals give you something to work toward and even look forward to. They help turn hopes and dreams into more clear steps for reaching those dreams. For parents and caregivers, setting goals can help build confidence, lower stress, and give you some feelings of control when you might feel overwhelmed. Even better, when children see adults set and work on goals, they learn important life skills like continuing to try even when it gets hard, problem-solving, and…yes…learning how to feel hopeful!

Your goals don’t have to be big to be important. In fact, smaller goals that are more possible to reach are often the best at the start. Reaching those goals makes you want to set more, helps you develop good habits, and reminds your family that making progress is possible, even when life tends to feel like a lot.

The Role of Hope in Goal Setting

Hope is the belief that things in your life can get better and that your actions matter. Hope gives us motivation and helps families keep going even when progress feels like it’s happening slowly. Without a sense of hope, setting your goals can feel pointless or simply out of reach. With hope, even taking small steps forward feels great.

When you and your family feel change is possible, you’re more likely to set goals, try new behaviors, and try again if setbacks happen…and setbacks will likely happen. It’s normal. Hope turns “I can’t” into “I can try,” and that little bit of possibility can make all the difference.

Personal Goals and Family Goals

The goals you set can focus on your own personal needs or on your family as a whole. Both are important, and many families actually enjoy setting goals for both.

Examples of personal goals include:

• Starting a daily habit (or a new daily habit)

• Improving sleep habits

• Continuing education or job training

• Practicing self-care or stress management

• Learning more about child development

  
  

Examples of family goals include:

• Creating a regular family mealtime

• Reading together every night

• Saving money for an emergency or special activity

• Spending more time together as a family

• Preparing a child for preschool or kindergarten

  
  

These are just examples, and goals for every person and family will look different. The important part of family goals is that they help everyone feel included and important. They can also help your family feel like a team and that everyone has a part in reaching the goal.

How to Set Goals That You Can Reach

Setting goals works best when you focus on ones that are realistic and can be a little flexible. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

Start small. Choose just one or two goals at a time. If your goals are too big, it can feel overwhelming. Smaller goals are easier to reach and celebrate. Celebrating is important and makes you want to keep trying!

Be specific. Making sure your goals are clear (what does it look like to reach your goal?) helps you to know for sure when you’ve reached your goal. For example, a goal may be to “read with my son three nights a week.” That’s more specific than “read more.”

Break goals down into steps. Creating small steps that build up to reaching a bigger goal makes progress feel more doable, and those steps also keep you motivated.

Write goals down. When you write down your goals, it feels more real and helps to remind you of what you’re working toward.

Expect bumps along the way. Goals take effort, and they are goals because they aren’t always easy. Having a setback (or many) is normal. It’s okay to recognize that something didn’t go well and to try again.

It’s Important to Celebrate Progress, No Matter the Size

Celebrating any amount of progress is one of the most important parts of setting goals. When you celebrate small wins (things that go well as you work toward your goal), it builds confidence and can keep hope alive. If your entire family is working toward a goal, celebrate small wins together. Finishing a week of planned meals (or eating a meal together), sticking to a bedtime routine for two nights in a row, or even saving a small amount of money all count as progress and are reasons to celebrate.

When goals aren’t quite met, your family can talk about what went well and what didn’t. Don’t give up, instead talk about what could be tried next time that might help, what small adjustments could make a difference, or ask for support from friends, family, or community support programs like Child and Family Resource Network. 

Supporting Kids Through Goal Setting

Children learn a lot by watching the adults around them, including their parents and caregivers. When caregivers talk about setting and working toward goals, children learn that facing challenges is part of growth at any age. Talking to your kids about “working on this together” or “let’s try again tomorrow” helps them to feel included, develops resilience and builds confidence.

Hope is Important for Moving Forward

Setting goals is not about being perfect or putting unneeded stress on your family. Goals are great for finding ways to create possibility, progress, and hope. For families with young children, goals are a way to look ahead and build confidence and purpose — together. 

With a positive outlook, support, and hope in what might be possible, your family can work toward new experiences and habits that you can make you proud!

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