A TIME TO REASSESS - CREATING A FAMILY MISSION STATEMENT

Calvin and I finally had another day together to talk through our stale lists of goals, finances, and other things on our hearts about one another. We haven’t been able to connect in ways we’d like lately with all the transition and changes life has brought us. It feels so good to be more on the same page again. I have high hopes for productive days like this, but at the same time, I know we won't get through nearly as much as I'd like - but even the small steps are ever so helpful.

Life is fleeting and we want to make sure we focus on the right things at the right time. So much of life is also about whatever comes our way, but the hope is that having this foundation allows us to keep resetting. To make sure the things we chose to spend our time on serve our ultimate goal - allowing us to then put action to those goals. It’s also about having gratitude and contentment with where we are at. Calvin and I have to work really hard for what feels like everything in our life. We want to press on - but together. Reassessing and connecting also allows us to block time for stopping and resting. As much as we're able, we made our Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings just for us.

There is a song by John Lennon that we sing to our boys called “Beautiful Boy.” In the song, there is a line that says: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Goodness, these lyrics get to me each time I sing them. It’s just so true. I want to embrace, savor, and be grateful for the life I’m living, while also being diligent with the time I do have and working towards what’s most important to us.

Here are some of the things we were able to chat about and focus on:

• Discussed how Calvin and I can be serving one another better in this season

• Created a Payne Family Mission Statement so as we create our individual and family goals we can assess if they are ultimately serving the main goal

• Updated our 5-year planning doc, talked about our goals for the future, and how we plan to set them to action

• Recalibrated our Ideal Week Calendar

• Discussed finances and budget spreadsheets we work through together

• Updated our Working Task doc we use together and we made adjustments on how we function in it together

• Updated our personal Bucket List of fun family things we want to do together

• Reflected on where we are now and how we're so grateful for that

We schedule days like this so we can establish guides and goals for our family and be united in how we live out each day. It allows us to parent, serve each other, save and spend our money, get things accomplished, and work towards common goals for our future together. I feel so refreshed and connected with Calvin as we work towards the same goals.

Here’s an example of our updated ideal week. I have a past blog where I wrote about weekly planning (which includes a template for creating your own) and in this post I discussed the benefits of creating an ideal week (the link is below). At first glance, this document may seem like a bit much and unrealistic. However, the purpose of creating this framework for our week is to show how our week will play in a “best case scenario.” Many times things come up and the ideal week is adjusted. In our family mission statement we included the line “we plan and hope for the best, but have the flexibility to reassess when needed.” This is all to be held loosely and with a healthy balance.

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Here are some other blogs that relate to how we plan and set goals with our family:

What are some ways that you plan and set goals with your family?

| Credits: Author & Graphic Design - Jacintha Payne; Photography - Ali Marsh |