Perhaps you have never looked at your family as a life project, but in a way it is. What's more: It is probably the most important project we carry out while we are on earth, since it is the only one of all our earthly projects that will bear fruit for future generations. Despite that, very few people have a clear vision for their family beyond a general idea of living happily ever after. Learn how to gain a vision for your family and how to set a defined course in which you will support each other in the individual interests of each family member.
We are so used to hearing that we must get a vision and set goals for our personal life, for our business, company, teamwork, even our hobby or sport.
Today I want to challenge you to set goals in an area that is of utmost importance, but is always forgotten when planning and setting goals: your family project.
Perhaps you will say, "What for? My family is fine!" Maybe he is already tired with the pure idea of having to develop one more project. Overall, in family life, you make your way by walking!
Do you really think that your family life is so perfect that you can't improve? And, at the end of their days, aren't they the ones who will be by their side? Wouldn't you want to know for sure at that moment that you did the best you could for each of them, beyond the material provision?
Strangely, even in established homes, the family project is an unfamiliar term. This is why establishing a vision for the family is so important.
Our lives can be so busy, especially when we have young children at home. Without realizing it, we can spend our whole lives running from one place to another.
The problem is that, with so much hustle and bustle, we can lose our way and start living day by day, putting out fires as they happen, without having a clear course. Time passes, children grow, their work continues to absorb a lot of time, until one day they realize that they will leave home and never did with them all the things that they had set out to do as a parent.
A vision for the family can help you set real goals, define what the family really wants in life, and unite you to walk in a preset direction.
The importance of a vision
Why then is it so important to have a vision?
Many people live their lives according to what is presented, almost as if life were a lottery. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
However, each of us has received talents and abilities that we can exploit for our good and the good of the people around us. And we have to make a decision about what we are going to do with those talents and abilities. We can choose to develop them and deliver from ourselves to others.
When we create a vision as a family, it will help us set goals, agree to a certain direction, and commit to using our gifts and abilities.
All family members can work together toward a common goal set, and each family member can contribute their specific gifts and abilities.
What is a vision?
A vision begins as an idea of how our lives can become better. It may be a little less, like wanting to share more time and have fun together. It can also be a big vision, like reaching thousands of people with a message or setting up a family business together.
It can be as simple as wanting your family to be a family that loves, has fun, and thrives.
In both cases, vision cannot remain at the stage of being just a nice idea. To make it a vision, you have to take the next step:
The family vision begins with a dream
The next step is to use your senses to imagine your idea. Imagine that your idea is happening now, not someday in the distant future. Try to imagine everything as if it was really happening.
Now you have to add two more elements so that your vision does not stay in the stage of a dream no more:
Two essential elements: faith and commitment
Do you really believe that your vision is possible to achieve? You don't need to know exactly how you are going to do it, you just need to determine if it is possible for you. If you see it as something impossible, it is better to consider a more feasible goal. Once you have reached it, your faith will also be increased and you will dare to believe for something greater.
Finally, you need the commitment of the whole family. The family has to be dedicated together to achieve the vision. It will require action on everyone's part. It is this united perseverance that will determine if your family achieves its goals or not.
Creating the vision
The common vision cannot be determined by the parents without the intervention of the children. It is a mutual agreement between all family members, therefore, all family members must be involved in its management.
Parents must judge wisely, but they must allow everyone to participate in creating a vision for the family. You have to listen to the opinion of each one. Very interesting things can be in the process of jointly determining what the vision will be for the family, as they will reveal what each person's priorities are.
It is important to establish in advance that not all areas of the family vision are going to be equally relevant to everyone, so it is important to establish that members must support each other in their individual dreams.
Decide which areas you want to focus your vision on. For example: free time, vacation, relationships, home, education, a possible business, etc. Then collectively determine how each family member imagines these areas should be.
Once you have determined what your vision is going to be, collect or draw pictures of the vision and hang it in your home where everyone can see it. For example, in the refrigerator. Thus the vision stays fresh in the mind of each member of the family.
