Welcome 2022

By Ty Salvant

A new calendar year often feels like a reset, a chance for growth physically, spiritually, mentally, educationally or emotionally. This is the time of year where resolutions, goals, plans, intentions are set for the year.

Far too often, we envision lofty goals without creating a plan for them or figuring out where we went wrong last year. For almost the past decade, my family would end/begin our year with an End-of-Year Review. While the kids did not take it as seriously as I did year to year, they would humor me and complete it most years.

I found it a great way to reflect on the past year, our accomplishments, struggles, missed opportunities and experiences. Those responses helped us draft a plan for the upcoming year. The children had an opportunity to think about and plan how they wanted to celebrate their birthday at the beginning of the year, create goals and think about summer plans.

I was able to use that information to sharpen my parenting skills and work on myself as well.

If you are interested in such a reflection, here are a few templates.  However, there are several online formats available based on the ages of your children. Give yourself permission to allow the teens to complete a different template than their younger siblings. Once that’s complete, use this template to create an overview for the upcoming year.

Is there a wedding, graduation, sacrament or family vacation on the horizon? This is a great place to list your non-negotiables to build your year around. Here’s to a healthier, happier, whole you!