Set new year goals as a family

 By Dickson Tumuramye 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been forced to adjust to norms that we don’t clearly gauge how it will end. But there is hope that 2021 has come and it will go. The bible tells us that there is time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). This time of COVID-19 came and it will go, another season will crop in, and life will continue!

The bible encourages planning. Jesus asked his disciples this key question “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” (Luke 14:28). There is always a point in life to sit down and do a family or personal check, measure your strengths and weaknesses.

 Reflection meeting or retreat 

This month, if you haven’t had a family reflection and goal-setting meeting/retreat, organize one. From this meeting, listen to each other, share lessons learnt, understand each other’s areas of strength and weakness, find out areas of opportunities and improvements around your family members.

 Evaluate last year’s plan 

If you had a plan for 2020, use it to evaluate last year’s performance. Take time to evaluate each planned activity or project and it's budget. What were the milestones? Look at the decisions that were made during the implementation of those activities and how they impacted you as a family.

Discuss the changes in plans you made along the way and how they can inform the new plans for the new year. What were your tangible outputs from your plan? Check at what you did not accomplish that needs to be carried forward. If you never had any plan in place, try making one this year. Life without a systematic plan is like a car on the road without a driver. It will crush and you may never like the damages. 

 Focus now on 2021 

Discuss how different 2021 is going to be.

How each is planning differently from the past year? What the cost for each planned activity is? There is no one exactly sure of how this year will look like because there are still high cases of COVID-19 infections, and deaths are rising every day. With that in mind, life must continue and we must survive. In this new normal, planning is still crucial for our survival.

Planning helps to know where you have come from and where you are heading. It projects how you will use your meagre savings and add value to them. It guides you to budget and cut a coat according to a piece of cloth you have. You don’t just live a life without goals. You don’t just “shoot” with the few bullets you have without targets. This planning should involve all your family members. Don't do it alone. It helps each one to be accountable but much more to know that they need to envision their future. This will help family members to learn how to save and invest, how to accomplish what they plan in a given period. Some will also be able to categorize their goals from personal, family, health, work, church, or community.

 Ask for individual plans and goals 

As the Bible says, “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12). It is not good for our children to learn planning and goal setting when they are old. Encourage them to always plan for their own lives from childhood that they may gain a heart of wisdom. It’s our responsibility as parents to ensure that we raise our children in a very responsible manner. Help them to always come up with their personal goals and plans at the start of the year. It helps you know which child is focused, what they intend to achieve, and how you fit into their plans. We are not only parents but also mentors, so we guide our children on a better path that can easily lead them to their destiny. The reflections of the past year should help each family member to think about what they personally intend to achieve. All this should be incorporated into the family plan for 2021. 

 Commit your plans to the Lord 

In Proverbs 16:3, it says “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” And this is echoed well in Psalms 37:5 “commit to the Lord everything you do to the Lord. Trust him and he will help you.” At every point of reflection and envisioning the future, trust in the lord and commit everything to him. He who began a good work in you will surely bring it to completion… (Philippians 1:6). Keep your eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ as the author and finisher of your plans and faith.

I wish you a prosperous year 2021.

The writer is a child advocate, parenting coach, and marriage  counselor.

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Dickson Tumuramye is also a
motivational speaker on:

#Positive parenting

#Marriage and family

#Child counseling 

#Career guidance