If New Year’s Resolutions Fall Flat with Your Family…Try This Instead!

Happy New Year friends! I hope you and your family had some special times together over the holidays. We sure did! But we are really looking forward to seeing what this next year has in store! REALLY looking forward to it!

Speaking of New Year’s, I wanted to share something with you that our family tries to do.

Although we’re not real disciplined about establishing New Year’s resolutions, at the beginning of each year we do try to pause long enough to reflect on the previous year. At the same time, we also try to look forward to what the next year might bring.

Scott family photo right after a New Year’s Eve bonfire with dear friends in 2015 … err, 2016.

In addition to it being a really enjoyable exercise, I also feel that it helps create a more thoughtful and appreciative rhythm to our family’s cadence – celebrating what’s happened and anticipating what’s to come. And it also gives us a window into our girls’ hearts and minds…and those are always treasured moments for this mama.

What we do is not complicated, it’s just an intentional conversation around the dinner table…that often leads to other conversations later. Each year I come up with a list of things to talk about that we use to keep us focused as we share around the table. Then, after dinner, each of us fills one out on our own.

Since we started this activity, I always look forward to reading what my girls write as their answers.  Love seeing what they come up with!  Once I’ve collected and read them, I compile them in a notebook that I add to year after year and keep for future reference and enjoyment. Just like our family photo albums, this notebook of memories will become a great treasure and opportunity to walk down memory lane for all of us in the years to come.

In order to make it easier for you and your family to have a similar conversation around your dinner table, I’ve created a similar version of the list that we filled out this year. Click here or on the image to download one for your family to use.

Well I hope you and your family enjoy this fun exercise. And by the way, if you’re reading this and it’s January 31st … or June 1st … or even December 1st, don’t wait until January 1st roles back around to reflect and recalibrate where you’re headed. In other words, it would be silly to let a date keep you from embracing a meaningful and fun activity with your family to remember the past and put into writing some hopes you have for the future.

And in true RYG fashion…if you do, I think you’ll find that you’ve redeemed a little bit of precious family time through rich conversation that will have a lasting impact and create a memory keepsake in the process…that you can revisit for years to come.

Take care friends…and here’s to a great New Year!