Discover What Matters In Families

Whether minuscule or grandiose, humanity has been given the capacity to choose. Some consider this a right. Others consider it a responsibility.

However, this conversation must become fine-tuned and purpose-driven as a parent. The reason is quite simple. Parents are obligated to make decisions that are in the best interest of their families and their children.

There are three reasons why this is true.

Family Goals

Mothers and fathers must lead efforts to establish goals that benefit every member of the family. These include short-term aspirations and long-term that they can work on accomplishing together.

For this to happen, parents need to become very intentional about identifying specific objectives for their children and themselves. They should develop a plan the facilitates their goal attainment.

Here is one example that parents will find relatable.

When parents decide that they want their children to become college graduates who become positive, contributing members of society, they must adhere to the following:

1. Parents must establish education as an important family function. Purchasing educational toys for their children and reading to them from their earliest beginnings accentuates the value of learning. It also set the family on a life-long journey of honoring education.

2. As their children enter school, parents remain active participants and actively involved in all aspects of their education. This also involves maintaining positive relationships with their child’s educators by sustaining high levels of engagement.

3. Parents engage in financial planning so that funds are set aside for their children to attend college.

4. Sustained support is provided for their children when they display special talents and interests in areas that require intensive development. Doing so will help their children not only become well-round human beings but could also potentially evolve into future college scholarship opportunities.

5. Parents should assist their older children in all processes related to securing their acceptance into a college or university.

6. Once enrolled in higher education, parents should extend their unique and individualized brand of support that will help their child achieve their academic endeavors.

This family educational goal represents one very popular goal that impacts many families.

What is another goal important for families?

Family Values

Parents must be responsible for determining values for the rest of their members. These including things that mothers and fathers establish as critically important in the way that they live their lives.

Family values include intangible character traits that are aligned to the emotional and spiritual health of each member. These values also contribute to the healthy development of each child within the family. Some popular examples of family values among the numerous ones that exist include:

- Religion

- Kindness

- Compassion

- Thoughtfulness

- Empathy

- Acceptance

- Goodness

- Respect

- Hard Work

- Sacrifice

- Forgiveness

- Service

Are there additional family values that exist within families?

Family Priorities

Family priorities refer to those things that help each member to strengthen their relationship with each other, with others within their local, national, and global community.

As with goals and values, parents must take the lead in helping their children to embrace priorities as important things that make their family unique. Parents must also help their children understand that these significant things give each member of their family a sense of purpose and responsibility.

While family priorities differ among other families because each one is unique, here is a list of general ones to increase an understanding of priorities and to help differentiate them from family values.

1. Regularly attend religious services and commune with God through prayer and meditation.

2. Participate in worldwide efforts to stop global warming as a family. This may include but may not be limited to ending pollution, promoting recycling, and preventing deforestation.

3. Teaching children to honor the diversity of others.

4. Placing a high value on learning about the world. This can be exemplified through traveling.

5. Spend as much quality family time as possible by eating meals together and enjoying a weekly family game night.

6. Participate in service projects and activities as a family.

7. Help children develop appropriate study habits at home by ensuring they have a quiet workspace at home.

Does your family share any of these popular priorities?

The Final Thought: Make A Family Vision Board

Goals, values, and priorities are three important things that lead to the development of a healthy, well-rounded family unit.

I encourage families to place a high emphasis on this critical thing by creating a family vision board together. This includes drawing and painting pictures as well as printing those online and those found in magazines that depict their unique goals, values, and priorities. Photographs and small artifacts can be gathered as well. All of these items should be creatively mounted on a colorful poster board. Words connected to these important family indicators may be added, too.

Whether framed or unframed, the family vision board should be hung in a prominent spot in the home to serve as a reminder to everyone about what they honor as significant to them.

What other ideas do you have to help parents determine what is important within their families?

If you were inspired by reading this story, consider sharing it on your social media platforms. Also, please consider adding a tip to help fund my work to increase family engagement in education.

I am also a content creator on YouTube. Be sure to visit my "Ignite Family Engagement" channel to view my videos related to the role of parents in education. Here is the link:

Thank you.

This story was originally published on Medium.com in ILLUMINATION-Curated.