How We Set Summer Goals
One of our family traditions is to set summer goals every year.
One Sunday afternoon around the end of the school year or the first or second week of summer, we all sat together around the table, passed out little sheets of lined paper to everyone and we worked on our goals for the summer.
The girls always know in advance that we are going to do this, so they have a few days or a week to think about what goals they want to set.
Here are two things to know about our summer goal setting:
- This summer’s goals are kid-led. We don’t choose the goals for them although we might help them brainstorm if they ask. Summer feels like a time to explore your own interests and think about what you want to achieve and learn. We want these summer goals to feel fun and exciting, not heavy and overwhelming.
- The goal for this summer is quite simple. We have no rewards for meeting them (with the exception of their earnings goals, which I’ll cover below), no penalties for not meeting them, and we don’t subject them to rigorous scrutiny. Again, we want summer destinations to feel exciting, not like summer-ruining news.
Once everyone has listed their goals, we go around and everyone shares whatever goals they want to share (usually all of them, but there is no obligation to do so – if you want to keep them private, feel free).
The only goal anyone has is an income goal. We helped each girl choose a number that felt reasonable to make over the summer (ranging from about $250 for our 9 year old to over $2000 for our 15 year old).
At the end of the summer, we throw a fun family outing (usually a nice dinner out and a pedicure or facial or something) for everyone who has reached that income goal.
Here are some of the goals we set for this summer:
Some of my 9 year old summer goals:
- Able to do front hand movements on the trampoline
- Made dinner with Mom 3 times
- Able to throw a wake surf rope
- Get up to 80 wpm in typing
Some of my 11 year old summer goals:
- Swim 50 seconds 50m freestyle
- Learn to wake surf on a trick board
- Do 10 minutes of ASL practice every day
Some of my 13 year old summer goals:
- Complete a coding course and get her ears pierced
- Being able to do a 360 on a surfboard
- Beat all swim times from last season
Some of my 15 year old summer goals:
Some of my summer goals:
- Catching up on my Goodreads reading goal (I’m currently 19 books behind!)
- Replaced our front door (it was in very poor condition with peeling paint and bubbling texture)
- Clean the dryer vent (I did this a few years ago and unscrewed and cleaned the entire vent system)
- Immediately started a new puzzle every time I finished one
- Follow all my travel videos (I have about 4 to do at the moment)
Everyone hangs their goals somewhere they can see (on a closet or in a mirror or something) and then once a month over the summer, we review our goals and see how everyone is doing.
Sometimes goals are achieved early, some are adjusted, and some are discarded.
I feel like so many people have had bad experiences with New Year’s Resolutions or goal setting and my goal is to get my kids to understand that goals are to help you get clear on where you want to go and to improve your life, not to be something you feel embarrassed about or can’t adjust to based on your life changes.
Have questions about our summer destinations? I’m happy to answer them!
If you liked this post about our family summer destinations, you might like these other posts:
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