At the end of every NFL season, players sit down with their respective position coaches and talk about their year. Think of them as annual performance reviews at your office. The conversations are a way to dissect what went well and what didn’t on the field, but they also help the player build an offseason workout plan. Stagnancy isn’t an option in pro football, so coming up with a plan to improve is huge. It’s all about becoming a better player.
If you want to get better as a dad, you need to take the same approach at the end of your year. Sit down and consider where you killed it and a few areas where you fell short as a dad. There will probably be plenty of both, so be honest with yourself. Ask your entire family to do a year-in-review too. It’s a way for everyone to grow and improve. Hearing your kids’ answers will help you as a dad because you are a huge factor in their success and failure. Come up with your own end-of-year questions for kids if you’d like, or use these. Here are 15 questions for your family’s year-in-review.
Looking Back
1. What was your favorite memory from this year and why?
2. What was the hardest thing you went through this year?
3. What is something you did this year that you’re proud of?
4. What is something you wish you had done differently?
5. What is something you learned about yourself this year?
Relationships Review
6. Who had the biggest positive impact on you this year? How?
7. Who did you become a better friend or teammate to this year?
8. Is there anyone you need to forgive, apologize to, or make things right with before the new year?
9. What is one way you saw God working in your life this year?
Looking Ahead
10. What is something you want to get better at next year?
11. What is one thing you want to be brave enough to try next year?
12. What is one habit you want to start, stop, or change?
13. What is something you hope happens for our family next year?
14. If next December we asked you what made next year a great year, what would you hope you could say?
15. What is one thing you want Dad to help you with next year?
So where do you go from here? Write down your family’s answers to these end-of-year questions for kids and study them. Does one child want to repair a strained relationship? Talk about ways to start constructive conversations. Do you want to spend more time with your family? Examine your schedule and find or create pockets of time.
Use these answers to these build a solid plan heading into next year with the goal of becoming the best dad you can be. Share end-of-year mom ideas with your wife from iMOM. Map out a vision for the next 12 months with excitement for what could be.
Sound off: Besides these end-of-year questions for kids, what tools can you use to help you plan for your family’s future?
Huddle up with your kids and ask, “What does it mean to have vision?”