How is Your Family Plan

I was reading an article by Stephen Covey this fathers day morning and there is a list that I will give in this post that has so many valuable questions to take into consideration to create a family cohesion through open lines of communication.  I so often see in business where the family is independent of the business life or career path.

There are actually two situations that come up on a regular basis.  One spouse, or the children of the parents have no idea what the parents do for work, or have no interest in what they do.  I know for me, when my family is enrolled in what I am doing for my business, or even as simple as what I am doing for money, it is empowering to me.  The correlation between work and family will come in a moment!

The second situation I see, is where one family member, or children are resistant to the business life do to schedule and actually make it challenging to conduct business.  Again, a lack of understanding for the money earners in the family makes a family life challenging.

Okay, with those couple of examples, in my experience, both are easily tackled with the same solution.  The idea of enrollment.  Define what the family most desires.  Long term goals, midterm goals, and short term goals.  Enrolling the family in the goals allows the open conversation for open enrollment and involvement in the facilities to make the goals a reality.

For example, my children love their pets, especially my oldest daughter whose paint horse Bella is her pride and joy.  For Rhyan, her horse is a goal, or a part of her structure that creates happiness in her life.  With her enrolled in the vision for that purpose, when I go to work, and she asks, "why are you leaving" I relay it to Bella.  "Remember, mommies and daddies have to work to provide for our families.  Today, I am working so we can get more hay for Bella.  Does that sound like a good plan?"

I have young children, so for them, goals tend to be smaller and not BHAGs (Big Hairy Audactious Goals) that as we age come into focus.

What does all of this mean and how does it relate to the Covey article.  He talks about creating a family mission statement.  Powerful idea.  A mantra, by which the family is enrolled in for all aspects.  Health, spirituality, finances, and family.  A cohesive plan that allows open lines of communication to facilitate forward movement towards the empowering belief of the plan.  Simple!

Here is a list of questions from Stephen Covey to ask families to gain insightful information for developing your family plan!

1.  What kind of family do we really want to be?
2. What kind of home would you like to invite your friends to?
3.  What embarasses you about our family?
4.  What makes you feel comfortable here?
5.  What makes you want to come home?
6.  What makes you feel drawn to us as your parents so that you are open to our influence?
7.  What makes us feel open to your influence?
8.  How do we want to be remembered by others?
9.  What is the purpose of our family?
10.  What kinds of things do we want to do?
11.  What kind of relationships do we want to have with one another?
12.  What things are truly important to us as a family?
13.  What are our family's highest-priority goals?
14.  What are the unique talents, gifts and abilities of family members?
15.  What are our responsibilities as family members?
16.  What are the principles and guidelines we want our family to follow?
17.  Who are our heroes?  What is it about them that we like and would like to emulate?
18.  What families inspire us and why do we admire them?
19.  How can we contribute to society as a family and become more service-oriented?

Powerful list of questions.  I challenge you to create a family plan, a unified system for which the decisions in your family are made.  Put the plan into action.  Spend quality time on create your plan as it will be the foundation for which it is allowed to grow and mature!