The legendary New York Yankee Yogi Berra once said, If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else. Every family ends up somewhere, but few end up somewhere on purpose. As we head into 2023, do you have a vision for your life, marriage and family?
If we don’t have a clear vision for our future, hopes die, dreams die, marriages die, and relationships die. A clear vision is crucial for your life, marriage and family.
4 Things a Clear Vision & Mission Will Do for You and Your Family.
- Provide Passion
- Provide Motivation
- Provide Direction
- Provide Purpose
Every person, marriage and family needs an injection of those for four things. At The Winning Family, we have created a fun, life-giving tool we call a Family Vision Script. You can go to thewinningfamily.com and download a FREE copy to print out so you and your family can create your own. After 31 years of marriage, raising three adult children of our own, and working with hundreds of families for over 35 years, I have learned that couples and parents need far more than prayer to survive in today’s world. They need a plan so they can thrive!
Our Family Vision Script will help you develop five action steps that will provide a plan to follow to win in your life, marriage and family. Below is a breakdown of a 5-Step plan for your family.
1. Your Purpose/Mission: When a couple or family clearly defines their “why,” it represents what they are all about and the guiding principles that will navigate their marriage and family.
2. Your Vision: There is something powerful about writing down your mission and vision.
- It will force you to clarify what you want for your future and who you desire to become.
- It will motivate you to take action.
- It will provide a filter for other opportunities. The greatest enemy of the best things in life is the good things.
- It will help you overcome resistance and setbacks.
- It will enable you to see and celebrate your progress.
3. Your Values: What do you stand for? What character qualities are most important to you? Do you have a north star to point you toward the person, couple or family you desire to become? When we have muddy values, we have slippery priorities. However, when we have clear values, we have compelling priorities. You can define your core values by downloading a FREE Values Worksheet at thewinningfamily.com
4. Your Goals: If you want to live intentionally, establishing clear goals is the key to living out your purpose, vision and values. Studies prove individuals with written goals are far more successful at achieving those goals than those who don’t. We created a goals tree that focuses on five domains in life. Spiritual, physical, financial, relational and intellectual. These five branches of the goals tree serve as the daily choices we make. The roots are the values that grow deep into the fertile soil and foundation of our mission and vision.
5. Your Strategy: One of the ways to ensure you reach your preferred future and destination as a family is to have a weekly check-in. This is a systematic way for families to stay connected and build close-knit relationships. A weekly check-in includes five simple prayers to pray for each other. Discussing high-lows for the week, reviewing calendars, casting vision, and telling stories are just a few ways to enter each other’s world and remind each other what matters most as a family.
If you want your marriage and family to thrive in 2023, carve out some time to write out your purpose, vision, values and goals and establish a night during the week to review, encourage and celebrate each other’s successes along the way. To download these FREE tools and detailed instructions, go to thewinningfamily.com and create your Vision Script for 2023.
Rodney Gage is a family mentor, author, speaker, and the founding pastor of ReThink Life Church, which meets at Lake Nona High School. His passion is to help families win at home and in life. To receive a FREE copy of one of his books, go to www.thedoublewinclub.com. To learn more about his marriage and parenting mentoring, check out thewinningfamily.com and rethinklife.com
