When it comes to teaching kids about money, surveys indicate that most parents would rather not, so much so that they wait until their kids are 15 to start. This oversight may be generational; another poll indicates that only one in four American adults learned money lessons from their parents. The gap shows: America continually rates poorly on financial literacy indicators; 60% of Americans can’t cover a $400 emergency with their savings; and 61% of Americans don’t know how much money they need to retire. Surveys indicate that 80% of newly graduated teens rank financial pressures as either a “major or minor problem.” Stress about money is a huge problem in this country, one which parents presumably would like very much to help their children avoid. But how?

Whether you’re full of optimism or dread, one solution to making this school year count is to help your kids set their own back-to-school goals. We all know that goal-setting is important for adults: it is linked to greater self-confidence, autonomy, and motivation. For kids, the benefits of goal-setting are numerous. Working on their goals helps them to develop greater self-confidence and sense of self, and also improves their locus of control and strategic thinking and planning skills.

Summers often start out great. Your kids are basking in being home, out of school, meeting up with friends or family with no cares in the world. You swim, or hike, or go to the park. You have laid-back grilled dinners with friends, and head out for ice cream afterward. Or maybe you build a campfire and do s’mores. 

And then, the summer schedule blues start, sooner than anyone expected. “I’m booooooooored,” says your child(ren). You suggest all kinds of (to you) fun-sounding activities, only to be met with a shake of the head. You get irritated. Your child rolls her eyes. It spirals from there.

Families have to lay the groundwork of healthy relationships before they can achieve their maximum potential; they have to address the five dysfunctions. So what are those dysfunctions? Lencioni identifies them as: 1) absence of trust; 2) fear of conflict; 3) lack of commitment; 4) avoidance of accountability; and 5) inattention to results. Let’s take them one by one.

Americans like to identify health with “how I look.” Imagine the covers of most fitness or health magazines in the supermarket check-out lane. In these, “health” looks the same: low body weight, toned musculature, bright white teeth, all-over good looks. Health is attractive. But there is much, much more to health than eating right and exercising. In fact, in his research into the longest-lived groups of people around the world, longevity expert Dan Buettner identified 9 common attributes that these groups shared—and only one of them had to do with fitness, and three with food or drink. The rest of the “Power 9,” as Buettner calls them, have to do with having a sense of purpose, deliberate stress management, social connectedness and belonging, and rootedness in family.

Research has shown that increasing income does grant most Americans some level of increasing life satisfaction and emotional well-being—but only up to a point. After that point, satisfaction and well-being actually start to decrease. The authors of the study speculate that although money is useful in paying for daily needs, repaying debt, and providing some basic “extras,” after this point, “people may be driven by desires such as pursuing more material gains and engaging in social comparisons, which could, ironically, lower well-being.”

Chances are, your family can already count many, many other families as “friends” or at least “acquaintances.” You’ve got a group of friends you’ve known since high school, who now have kids of their own, and maybe you get together once or twice a year; a group of fellow soccer or football or hockey parent friends; the families of your kids’ school classmates; maybe some in your church, or that you met while volunteering together, or at work, or who live next door. Many of these people may very well share your values—that’s why you’re friends in the first place. Like-minded people tend to find each other. You feel comfortable with them, and you know you can open up to them. These people have been there for you, and they’re crucial. But if you’re serious about achieving your family’s goals, you may want to consider actively seeking out families that share similar goals with which to share your journey.

One benefit of COVID-19 has been the opportunity that increasing numbers of parents have to work from home. For many, the new arrangement could be permanent. Entrepreneur recently published a story on 17 big companies now allowing extended or even permanent flexible work arrangements, including Google, Twitter, Uber, Square, Zillow, and REI. Certainly, working from home has its challenges, especially for those with very young children. But according to a recent Gallup poll, 59% of Americans still want to continue to work remotely “as much as possible” after the pandemic is over. This is an incredible opportunity for parents to invite their children into their work world. And why would you want to do that?

How do modern families survive the daily tug-of-war? At FamilyWorks, we’ve carefully researched the daily needs and activities of families, and we’ve created a list of six key areas that we believe encompass what makes for a cohesive, strong family life. Those areas are: relationships, finance, health, community, spiritual, and career. For your family to retain its strength against intrusive outside distractions, these areas need their own focus and their own distinct goals, and they also need to be in balance with each other.

After your family has identified its mission and vision and started outlining a strategic plan, your next steps are to figure out what goals you need to achieve to accomplish your plan. Chances are, it’s going to take quite a few steps to get to your “Wildly Important Goal.”

Your strategic plan is going to include a number of different areas: your finances, your education, your children, your emotional and physical health and well-being. The first step toward achieving your family’s mission and vision is to identify what you need to do to get there. Focus on big-picture stuff right now

For us, innovation is about taking some of the best ideas from the worlds of psychology, business, systems theory, academia, and others and applying them to the family setting. Innovation is using tech tools to implement new systems and new practices in your family.