Setting New Year’s Goals With Your Children
January 17, 2024 | Family Life
When the new year comes around, it’s common for people to set New Year’s resolutions for themselves. These resolutions can be as small as getting into a new hobby or something more ambitious, such as adopting a new mindset and attitude. For parents, however, it doesn’t have to just be the adults that set goals for the new year.
Allowing your children to set up their own goals for the new year can make a positive impact not just on them but on you as well. In this blog post, our team at Metro Self Storage will show you how your kids can set and achieve New Year’s resolutions and goals for themselves and what benefits their goals can bring.
The Benefits of Making New Year’s Goals With Your Kids
Setting New Year’s resolutions doesn’t just have to be for adults. According to AdventHealth, there are many worthwhile benefits that come with allowing your kids to set New Year’s goals. As you make your resolutions, you’ll boost family togetherness by setting and sharing your goals with each other and teaching your kids about time and resource management. In addition to this, your kids can take accountability for their resolutions, reap the benefits, and strengthen their self-confidence when they achieve their goals.
How To Approach Making New Year’s Goals for Kids
Now that we’ve covered the benefits of setting New Year’s goals with your children, it’s time to get started. Begin with a positive attitude. After all, if you approach New Year’s resolutions in a negative way, your kids will follow your lead. Similar to your own resolutions, help your children decide on a resolution that provides a challenge but is still attainable. Setting a challenging goal can sound scary to your kids, but remind them they aren’t alone on this goal-setting journey. You will be there to provide help along the way and encourage them when things get hard. Here are a few more tips you and your family can use to create your New Year’s resolutions and goals.
1. Be a Role Model
“Do as I say, not as I do” is an adage you’ll want to leave at the door during this process. When beginning this process, explain your goal to your children, including why it’s important to you and how you plan to achieve it. Not only will this show them the goal-setting process, but it will also get them thinking about some goals they would like to set for themselves.
2. Suggest, Don’t Choose, a Resolution for Your Kids
This is goal setting for your children, not for yourself, so allow them to tell you what goals are important to them. Once you know what they find important, you can brainstorm some ideas together, and your child can choose the goal that sounds the most appealing to them. The most important thing here is to encourage rather than influence your child to choose a resolution they want to achieve. This will ensure that the goal is important enough for them to work toward.
3. Keep Your Resolution List Short
You know what it’s like to be overwhelmed by a long list you can’t accomplish. You can expect a similar outcome with a resolution list that’s too long. This is especially true for your children. The goal is to get them excited about taking ownership of accomplishing a goal, not scaring them off from it. So keep your list short and encourage them to keep it short as well. You can even decide on a resolution limit together so everyone in your family has the same number of goals for the year.
4. Keep Each Other Accountable
Keeping your children accountable doesn’t mean you must ensure they accomplish the goal perfectly. We all know that striving for perfection can be a motivation killer when setting and accomplishing goals. Expect lapses, but treat them with kindness and get back into the habit the next day. Keeping each other accountable also means encouraging your children to resume their goals rather than nagging them. If you’re holding each other accountable, you want your child to encourage you, so you must model the behavior you want them to follow.
New Year’s Resolutions for Kids
Now that you have the basics for goal setting down, it’s time to figure out what your New Year’s goals will be. It’s important to understand that each child will have different goals. Different age ranges come with different wants and needs. With that in mind, make sure your kids’ resolutions are appropriate for their age. Let’s walk through some resolution ideas for different childhood stages.
Resolutions for Preschoolers
Let’s start with the youngest goal makers—preschoolers. New Year’s goals for preschoolers can include developmentally appropriate responsibilities like washing their hands every time they use the bathroom, brushing their teeth twice a day, and trying new foods such as vegetables they don’t normally eat. Additional goals for preschoolers could be as simple as normalizing asking a trusted adult for help or being nice to other kids.
Resolutions for Children Ages Five to 12
With children in this age range, it might be beneficial to find resolutions that further extend their responsibilities. These don’t have to be chore based either, as they can find a new outdoor activity or a good book to read. Another great goal to consider is to learn how to approach a trusted adult when they have a problem or are feeling sad. These positive-minded goals can be a huge steppingstone in building self-confidence and trust with their peers.
Resolutions for Teenagers 13 Years or Older
Plenty of teenagers are looking toward adulthood. It’s a great idea to help your teenagers set goals to better position them for success in the future. Some common goals for teenagers include getting enough sleep at night, practicing good media literacy, and managing stress and anger constructively and positively. However, your teenager’s goals can branch out beyond themselves. Another goal they can set is to be better at helping others who need it.
How To Achieve a Goal
It’s one thing to set a goal. But it’s another thing to stick with and achieve a goal throughout the year. When your family sets up New Year’s resolutions, you should hold your child accountable for making their goals. However, they should be able to hold you accountable as well. To help, here are five ways you and your child can better succeed in resolving your goals for the new year.
- Ask your child why they set each goal.
- Start small and start as soon as possible.
- Break your goals down into parts or phases.
- Remove obstacles before you begin.
- Celebrate any victories whenever they occur.
Utilize Your Resources for New Year’s Resolutions
With the holiday season officially over and winter in full swing, it may be difficult for you and your children to fend off the post-holiday slump, which can make achieving your goals harder. While it’s important to acknowledge this, it’s even more important for you both to find solutions.
One resource that can help your family in the new year is self storage. Living around clutter is also clutter for your brain and can make it harder for you and your children to achieve your goals. With the right storage unit and facility, however, you can declutter your home and claim back the space needed for a whole year of adventures and experiences.
Rent Self Storage for the New Year at Metro Self Storage
To make the room your family needs for a refreshing new year, look no further than Metro Self Storage for the best self storage units near you. With over 50 years of experience under our belt, we’re equipped to provide you with a seamless storage experience as each of our top-tier storage facilities come with various spacious and accommodating storage units. After all, we’ve been making room for you since 1973. To get started, contact us or find your nearest Metro Self Storage location online today!
