Setting goals is one of my favorite parts of the new year. My dad is very goal oriented, so I grew up setting goals each year and have loved continuing to do after I got married and had kids.

Sometimes getting your husband or kids to set goals is not always successful, and my husband definitely needed to warm up to the idea the first few years of our marriage. But really it’s all about the way you approach it.

So I’m sharing four tips that have worked for our family to set goals together!

Don’t overcomplicate it. Have them pick 1-3 goals — don’t make it so overwhelming that you set yourself up for failure. The chart I created and use has three different categories so it makes them think about how to improve different aspects of their life, but in a very simple way.

Set an example. My kids want to do everything that I do, so if they see me setting goals and excited about it, they want to join in on the fun too. So set an example so they get excited.

Print out a chart. Every study says that writing goals down is the best first step in accomplishing your goals. We use this chart that I created, and each of us fills out our own chart. Then we hang them on the wall in our closets or in the kitchen so we can see them frequently! The chart I made is available to anyone, and you can make a copy of it and use it for your family too. You can customize it to have any number of categories — make it your own!

Make it fun and keep it short. We have a weekly family night, so we set aside this night around New Year’s day to have a goal setting night. Make cookies, pop popcorn, have everyone get in their pajamas, have the blank charts already printed out for each family member — whatever you need to make it fun for your family. And make sure the actual goal setting part is quick because kids attention spans for goal setting are not very long. For little kids, try to get at least one goal out of them. For tweens and teenagers, they can definitely do all three, or more (you can add multiple spots for goals under each category!)

I’d love to know if you guys set goals, and what has worked for you! Leave me a comment below!