Reevaluating Goals for the New Year

The start of every new year comes with the best intentions to set goals for the next 365 days, but what happens when your focus and determination wane? The pressure to maintain and achieve goals can feel like a lot, especially to our kids.

Instead of worrying about the piece of candy we meant to leave in the box, exercise class we skipped when we were sick, or when we kept scrolling our social accounts after our phone should have been put to sleep, think about the important lessons that can be learned when we reevaluate goals and move forward. Here are 3 pieces of learning that are good for us to remember and share with our kids when it comes to goal setting.

Learn from Mistakes

There could be any number of reasons why we faltered in achieving goals we set for ourselves at the start of the new year. We want to teach our kids that we’re not perfect and mistakes happen. Some of the best learning comes from making mistakes, so rather than being hard on yourself, acknowledge what happened, share what you learned with your kids, and how you plan to move on.

Keep Lines of Communication Open

If your kids made New Year’s resolutions and are working towards their own goals, have regular check-ins. This provides an opportunity to talk about your goals and communicate honestly about making progress towards achieving them. We want to keep lines of communication open with our kids to let them know they can talk to us about anything at any time. While you might be talking about goal setting now, having a conversation about underage drinking prevention could be easier in the near future.

Support Each Other

As family members share progress towards goals for the new year, celebrate milestones met and offer words of support when they falter. Goals may be individual, but telling and showing our kids we support them goes a long way. Even if they’re struggling to achieve goals they set for themselves in the new year, we always want our kids to know we love and support them. Offering reassurance and helping them plan how to move forward is beneficial to their mental health.

Setting goals is a great idea but teaching our kids the importance of being realistic about them is even better. After all, saying “YES” to a healthy lifestyle means taking care of ourselves physically AND mentally and teaching our kids to do the same.