Setting Goals For Your Family Sometimes you will wake up and think to yourself that your family life is not exactly where you would like it to be. Relationships can falter over one small disagreement. Therefore it is extremely easy to grow out of touch with your family, or otherwise have your relationships turn into something less than extraordinary. If you feel that your family life is stagnant, then you should immediately start to set goals and give your family life the shot in the arm that it needs. Your goals will depend on what exactly is troubling you, but you can almost always take action to cure your family of whatever problem you feel is riddling it. There is an acronym that is popularly used to describe any goals. That is “SMART”. Specific goals narrow your desires down instead of simply throwing out a blanket statement. Measurable goals are always obviously accomplished when you reach them. Action-oriented goals mean you can do something about them right away. Realistic goals are useful in your life and leave you something to be accomplished. Tangible goals are ultimately achievable, and won’t just leave you frustrated and worn out. Follow this acronym even with family goals, and you will be able to succeed. One of the most common family problems is that the members feel distant from each other. If you are feeling this way about your family, then you should immediately set a goal to spend more time together. You can resolve to eat one meal per day with each other, or you can pencil in a “family reading time” every night, or go on a picnic every weekend. It doesn’t matter what exactly you do, as long as you are enjoying each others company and becoming closer to each other. This is good for spousal relationships as well as relationships with your children. Altogether you can’t go wrong with spending more time together, and this is a great place to start. Another goal you might aim for is to improve communication with your spouse or kids. If you talk to your kids every day about what is going on in school, you can develop much closer relationships, and make them know that you are interested in what goes on in their lives. The exact same thing goes with spouses. It may seem clichéd, but you should always ask about work. When you talk to your kids or spouse about their day to day lives, make mental notes of things that are going on, and be sure to ask about them at later dates. This will give them assurance that you are actually listening, and they will be much more open to you later. Maybe your goals are nothing like these, and your family needs something much different to become ideal. Well whatever it takes, you should work hard to achieve it. Nothing should hold you back from creating a great family life. Family life is one of the most important things in the world to anyone, and therefore you should place no small value in it. If you need other help to achieve the goals that you have with your family, you can talk to a family counselor who can give you great advice related to you and how you interact with the members of your family. PPPPP Word count 556