Successful people make decisions quickly even if they don’t have all the information. Unsuccessful people tend to want to research more and know everything before they make a decision. The reason successful people are able to make decisions so quickly is because they know what they want. They have clearly defined their vision and goals and are able to, in an instant, ascertain if a given decision will bring them closer or further away from that vision.
Imagine you and your family have two weeks to have fun and relax on holidays. You decide to pack up the kids, get in your car and drive somewhere. Without knowing where you are going on holidays you will spend the two weeks driving around, wasting energy and gas, and getting very frustrated. The kids will likely get bored and drive you crazy and before you know it, you will be telling everyone how you need a holiday just to recover from your holiday.
The unfortunate phenomenon is that some parents go through life like this – and create frustration for themselves and their family. The kids learn this and end up repeating the same cycles in their own lives.
You don’t need to write down goals for absolutely everything in your family life. But it’s good for parents to be on the same page and to know what types of life skills, values, and beliefs they want
children to learn from them. There are many important things to learn that are not necessarily taught in school.
This is simple to do – have a conversation with your partner or with whoever is an influencer in your children’s lives and talk about what type of family dynamic you want to create. What type of relationship do you want to have with your children? How do you want to communicate with them? How do you want to help them have the best shot at success in life?
When you have a common vision you can more easily steer through situations and decisions because you know what you want. Even with the things you can’t necessarily control, it’s easier to act or respond because you have a foundation from which you’re working together. Teaching your children about creating a vision and goals for your family will give them an incredible gift to do the same in all areas of their life. Knowing where you’re going will make it easy for you to know when you get there. Parents say all the time “I just want to be happy.” Well, if happiness hit you in the face, would you know it? Of course, happiness is what all parents want for their children too – and it’s crucial to teach children to know what happiness means to them so that they don’t miss it when they achieve it.