Setting goals as a couple may help you revitalize and increase your relationship satisfaction. Standing water stagnates, moving water remains fresh. The difference between standing water and running water is motion. Setting and working towards goals helps you add motion to your relationship as you consciously work toward and create the life you want for yourselves.
Goal setting for couples:
When setting your couple goals, you may want to consider these areas: mental, emotional, physical, family, social and spiritual. You can have goals for personal and couple growth, finances, vacations, and a myriad of other things. Your couple goals need to align with both of your values and they should be something that you can both get excited about working together to accomplish.
Having a sense of purpose in life tends to increase your happiness. Making and working toward goals can increase that sense of purpose. Make goals that are attainable, but not too easy. You want to aim for something that will make you stretch. Remember to celebrate the little successes along the way and celebrate achieving your goal.
10 Steps To Achieving Your Couple Goals:
1. Brainstorm ideas—at this point there is no judgment or poo pooing allowed. Write down every suggestion.
2. Talk about your ideas—look at this as a way to get to know your partner better. Spend an evening talking, replace the inclination to judge or discourage with curiosity.
3. Each of you choose your top three goals. If you happen to have overlapping goals, great, you have a place to start. If you don't have overlapping goals then each of you choose one goal from your partner's list of top three goals to work on as a couple.
4. Record either the overlapping goals or the two choices from the other's list of three goals. Remember to review your goals frequently. You may want to post them somewhere you will see them often.
5. Decide on the first step that will move you toward reaching your goal and proceed to work on it. Remember couple goals means working together.
6. Choose a time to sit down together to evaluate your progress.
7. Decide on the next step to take toward reaching your goal and do it.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until your have accomplished your goal.
9. Celebrate! Don't forget to enjoy the process.
10. Choose new goals and repeat the process from step 1 (you could use your original brainstorming list or you could create a new list).
Achieving goals is great, but remember the process of working together is equally or more important than the results. The process of setting and working together to achieve common goals will strengthen your bond to each other and make your relationship a more vibrant and satisfying place to be.