Our Family Goals for 2025: Progress Over Perfection

Each January, my husband and I sit down to set our goals for the year. It’s a tradition that brings us together, encourages collaboration, and keeps us focused on what truly matters. This year’s process felt extra special, with our 8- and 10-year-old kids fully involved in creating the list. They contributed ideas, shared their excitement, and made our annual tradition even more meaningful.

When we wrote the list, it felt manageable—a balance of family time, community service, and fun. But seeing it all laid out on a page, with numbers like “48” and “24,” it suddenly felt…daunting. Could we really do this? The kids were quick to reassure me. My son Owen even set the tone for accountability, declaring, “Mom, you can’t just check off the bubbles. They have to be filled in, like on a test.”

Ok, bud. Challenge accepted. Let’s do this.

Making Goals Happen: The Calendar

My husband reminded me of something that’s key to how our family operates smoothly: the calendar.

“If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t happen.”

That one sentence has been a game-changer for us. After we finalized and laminated our family goals chart, I grabbed my phone and started scheduling the higher-frequency goals, adding to our Shared Family Google Calendar.

Calendaring our Goals:

Sit-down dinners? Recurring, every Monday night.
(Bonus: we often sit down together on Sunday evenings, too, but having it on a Monday ensures we’re covered.)

Sanford Sundays? On the calendar, with trash pick-up days specifically marked when I knew we could make it work.

Family movie nights? Added as a monthly reminder.

This simple act of planning turned an overwhelming list into something actionable. And to make it even clearer, I used a wet-erase marker to indicate our target dates right on the laminated chart. That way, even the kids can see what’s coming up and get excited.

Pro Tip: Wet Erase Marker

Here’s something I realized since prototyping my checklists and selling in my Etsy shop. Not all markers are created equal.

For most of our checklists, I recommend dry-erase markers. They’re perfect for daily or weekly tasks that you want to update frequently. But for laminated lists like this one—annual goals or anything you don’t want to accidentally smudge —wet-erase markers are a game-changer. Wet-erase ink stays put until you clean it with a damp paper towel, making it ideal for long-term tracking (and for The Morning 5 for Littles, to prevent small hands from accidentally erasing).

When you order any of my printed, laminated checklists from my Etsy shop, I’ll include a dry- or wet-erase marker based on what I recommend for that specific list. It’s all about making life easier and more organized for your family.

Progress Over Perfection

As I look at our list, I remind myself (and the kids) that this isn’t about perfection. It’s about creating healthy habits, working together, and making progress as a family. Owen summed it up beautifully—a proud mom moment—when he said, “Perfection is an illusion.”

Yes, yes it is.

So, as we dive into our family goals for 2025, I’m embracing the messy, imperfect process of building habits that will bring us closer together.

Blast from the Sanford Past!

As I was finding a spot for our Sanford 2025 Goals, I found this list from 2022, buried underneath other papers we’d taped up.

Cool to see the origin of my colorful lists and how they’ve evolved.

While not “perfect”, we absolutely achieved most of these family goals and made progress on the rest! 🤩

Our daily habits, didn’t fair so well. Good thing I created The Morning 5 in 2024!

What’s On Your Family’s List?

If you’d like to try something similar, you can find the customizable template we used here. You can personalize it to fit your family’s goals, print it out, and keep it visible to stay on track.

Remember, it’s not about achieving everything perfectly—it’s about making progress and creating moments of connection. Whether it’s 48 sit-down dinners, 24 family outings, or one simple act of kindness, every step matters.

What are your family’s goals this year? I’d love to hear how you approach goal-setting and how you make it work for your crew. Let’s inspire each other to create a year filled with intention, connection, and joy.

✨ Here’s to the beautiful journey of family life. ✨

To follow along, join my Free Substack @AGlittering. And check out my Etsy Shop for more checklists and tools.

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