Aligning family goals like a CEO

You know your company’s mission statement by heart. You see it plastered in your office’s hallway. You reiterate it with your team. You use it as a guideline when you hire.

You’d never run your business without a purpose, so why do we let this happen with our families?

In today’s newsletter, we’ll cover:

• The importance of a family mission statement

• Resources to get started with your own

• Weekly connection moments: Building traditions

Story time: We were confused

I follow entrepreneur Jesse Itzler’s approach to scheduling your year with The Big Ass Calendar to help map out how you spend your time across the entire year. It helps you identify how many days you spend on vacation, learning, work trips, etc.

The first time I was creating my calendar, I had a conversation with my husband about how we want to spend time as a family. We want to do all the things—give back, take vacations, enjoy cultural experiences—but there just isn’t enough time to do it all.

We realized we didn’t have a north star as a family. If we had one, it would help us determine how we want to invest our time.

That’s when I realized we needed a family mission statement—something to help us know if we were on the right track as a family unit.

Why do I need a family mission statement?

Just like a corporate mission statement, a family mission statement provides a clear vision and shared purpose, helping to unify and guide your family's decisions and actions. 

Convinced? Here’s how to get started:

Involve the family: Start by discussing with your partner why having a mission statement is important, ensuring you're both on the same page. Then, talk to your kids about the purpose behind it and schedule a fun brainstorming session to include their thoughts. 

• With kids 7 and under: Ask, "What do you love most about our family?"

• With older kids: Ask, "What goals or dreams do you think we should have as a family?"

This approach ensures everyone feels involved and valued in the process.

Progress, Not Perfection: Take the ideas and words from your brainstorming session and, with your partner, draft a few mission statement options. Choose the one that resonates most. Remember, it’s better to be 80% there than to aim for perfection. 

Your mission statement doesn’t need to be set in stone. Like corporate message testing, get something out there and see how it works. Each year, review and tweak it as needed, or even completely revise it.

Live it Every Day: Once you pick your statement, bring it to life. Some ideas:

• Write it out on a whiteboard

• Have your kids draw images on a poster

• Say it daily or weekly during family dinner

• Reference it when making family decisions

Back to my personal story. 

We landed on: "Use our special skills to do something helpful in the world." Now we make sure our actions align with our north star. Things like picking up litter at the beach, writing a letter to a grandparent while we’re on a trip, or starting Parint to help dads and kids make memories all count!

Additional resources:

• Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families: Provides a practical guide and examples for writing a family mission statement.

• Emily Oster's The Family Firm: Offers data-driven strategies for making better family decisions utilizing a mission statement as the north star.

Weekly connection moment: Family traditions

Ages 3-5: Family Dance Party: Choose a night each week to have a dance party. Play fun, kid-friendly music and dance around the living room together. Here’s a rockin’ playlist for this week!

Ages 6-8 — Storytelling Night: Have a designated night where each family member tells a story. It can be from their day, an imaginary tale, or a retelling of a favorite book.

Ages 9-12 — Family Book Club: Choose a book to read together each month. Have discussions about the chapters during dinner or a designated time.

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