How to Guide Your Family Through the 2023 New Year with Intention
- Family/Parenting
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Everyone seems to start off the New Year by setting goals to improve their overall well-being. Goals can be best described as the results that you are looking for. It’s the result of something that you’ve put together based on your thought process. Goals are future projections. These are things that you want to achieve at some point. On the other hand, intentions are more or less the energy that you put in at the very start. It’s not like motivation, but it is your overall willingness to do something. Intentions are concerned about the present moment in your life. It’s relying on how you feel right now. That being said, deeper connections can allow you to keep building your habit further and further until it becomes your second nature. As such, intentions are worth considering as a compliment to your goal setting system for success.
As you start the New Year, sit down with your family and create both individual and family goals together. Write them down in a book or somewhere that’s accessible to all members in the family. Here’s a list of activities to help you build more connection and intentionality as a family:
Get outside more
It is scientifically proven that being outdoors can improve your health and well-being in the following ways: lowers your blood pressure and reduces stress-related hormones cortisol & adrenaline. 90% of our best childhood memories take place outdoors. Activities such as camping, hiking, boating, swimming, picnicking, biking and just laying in the grass are prevalent.
Read together
Studies show a decrease with parents who stop reading to their kids when their kids begin reading independently. Some children begin to lose interest in reading around 4th grade. Make an effort this year to read with and around your children. Modeling the importance of reading with your teenagers and consciously turning off the screens on a regular basis will encourage them to do the same.
Start a family game night
Having a regular family game night is a great tradition to build connection and strengthen the family unit. Not only does it ensure time for connecting with each other, but it also gets your kids in the habit of communicating with you.
Be silly together
Let go of the rules and to-do list and just have fun together. There’s a time when the goal of having FUN is more important than anything else. Kids are wired for play! The best way to connect as a family is to play together. Being intentional to incorporate more playful moments together will strengthen your overall connection.
Eat & make healthier food together
As parents we all want to instill in our kids healthy eating habits that they can take with them into adulthood. Getting your kids involved with growing and preparing food while teaching nutritional value is instrumental in creating long-term healthy habits. Gardening, cooking, and baking together as a family creates a positive relationship with food.
Michelle has been a certified Parenting Coach and a Montessori educator for over 20 years. As the proud owner of Practical Life Parenting, she helps overwhelmed parents exhausted from the power struggles gain cooperation from their children using effective communication. She guides parenting partners to strengthen relationships and bring peace and joy to their homes.
Michelle loves to travel and participate in adventurous activities with her 3 boys and husband. She lives outside of Tampa, Florida, where you will find her on the sidelines cheering on her boys every weekend.
