Every April we get to celebrate a subject near and dear to our hearts…financial literacy! This year we are going to be talking specifically about how to create your Family Vision to really hone in on those goals, especially your financial goals.
Here at Birch, our mission is to create a financially stable community by providing education, food, and nurturing accountability.
Our 2022 Financial Literacy Month focus is:
Family Vision
What is a Family Vision? A Family Vision is a specific, articulated plan for how to live out your values.
“I personally have enjoyed how thinking about our family’s financial future has begged the question for a vision that includes a holistic picture of who we want to become.” – BCS participant
What does a Family Vision do? It serves as the anchor for your decision-making and sets the financial direction for you and your family.
How do we create a Family Vision? It will take collaboration, intention, and time. You will list your values, make goals based on these values, and then create habits to put these into action.
What are values? Noun: something (such as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable, Verb: to consider or rate highly; prize, esteem
Values represent lifelong pursuits. They are the principles by which you live (your compass). Values are who you are or want to be, rather than what you do.
Values are your WHY.
Examples of Values include:
- Generous
- Wise
- Hospitable
- Secure
- Grateful
- Disciplined
- Adventurer
- Servant
- Community building
- Quality time
- Trustworthy
- Provider
- Encourager
- Family
- Peace
- Faith
- Stable
- Creative
…and many, many more!
How do we determine our values?
Ask the questions:
- Who are you or who do you want to be?
- What are the primary characteristics of your family or what would you like them to be?
- What if you are stuck?
You can often reverse engineer your values from your goals. Keep asking WHY you want to do something. What is the root reason?
Have family members list their values individually, then cross-reference the lists to find commonalities or shared categories.
What are goals?
If values are your compass, goals are your road map. Goals are a plan for how to live out your values in all areas of your life.
How do our goals relate to our values? Your goals are the things you want to do to make your values a reality. Goals help you allocate your resources (time, money, skills) toward your values.
These goals often will be financial in some form, which is why they are so crucial to talk about during financial literacy month!
If Your Goals Seem Unachievable…
- Think about the simplest step required to start your goal, not necessarily to finish it. How can you make starting easier?
- Break goals down into the tiniest chunks possible. As long as each mini-goal is SMART, then it’s a goal!
How do actions relate to the Family Vision?
Actions are the practical, real-life things you are doing to reach your goals. Remember that values are your compass, goals provide the road map, and actions are the fuel that makes the car go.
- The easiest way to start a new action (or “habit”) is to plug it into an existing routine.
- Just like for goals, work on only a handful of new actions at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed.
Once you have written down your values, made goals based on these values, and decided on actions to reach your goals, it is time to act on the plan.
To learn more about creating your FAMILY VISION and more great in-depth financial literacy education, check out our program which includes our re$tart course.
Already a Birch participant? Don’t forget that you can schedule a call with a financial counselor anytime! Just contact us and we will get you on the schedule.