Hopes for 2024

Welcome to ETP’s goal series! We’re releasing a new goals-related post each week for the month of January.

If you desire to increase your toddler’s communication and language skills, now is the perfect time to get your play guide for 2024. Grab one here. See who it’s for here. And don’t miss out on how to use your play guide. Coming soon.

Hey friends, it’s Brooke again! I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for planners and habit trackers. As a very goal-oriented person, I find it so interesting to learn about what goals people have for a season, month or year and I’m always inspired to learn the steps they’re taking to make progress.

Goals help me steward the different areas of my life well. Goals give me vision and keep me focused on what matters. When the “I don’t know what I’m doing” thoughts creeps in, goals re-center and remind me of what I’m moving towards.

This year, as I set out to write some goals for us and our amazing ETP Family, I couldn’t help but notice that the list was more than a list of goals. It was a list of HOPES.

To hope means to be expectant.

What are you expecting this year? From your life? Parenthood? From your children? From ETP? The play guide?

Charles Spurgeon said this: You don’t always get what you want, but you always get what you expect. I’ve learned that if you’re expecting it to be hard. It will be hard. If you’re expecting it to be amazing, you will look for it to be amazing. If you’re expecting continued defeat. I believe you’ll see that. And If you’re expecting to grow, you will grow. I want to grow! And I think you do too!

We look for and move towards what we are expecting.

So let’s get to it! It’s a really good list and I can’t help but think that if we all take steps towards these together, our lives and our family will change for the better.

Keep reading to learn:

2024 goals
Action steps to move towards these intentions (Because let’s be real. A good intention is just a good intention.)
Possible roadblocks and ways to overcome
How to be okay with the process

01. SPEAK MY CHILD’S LOVE LANGUAGE

Action Steps:

Read the book Love Languages for Kids
Use the assessment tool provided and write down their love language
Make a list of ways to express it
Act on it
Check-in each month

Possible road blocks & how to overcome them:

Act on it and/or not check-in monthly. Solution — Write 5 phrases both my girls need to hear often based on what they struggle with + Put a reminder in my phone to check-in each month.

How to be okay with the process:

Keep a note in my phone of attempts I make and fun ways I show love.
Celebrate the little moments and wins.
Hug, hold, play, walk, or snuggle a little longer, because I can.

02. PRIORITIZE FAMILY FUN

Action Steps:

Food nights (ie. Taco Tuesday nights or Pizza Friday nights)
Movie nights or game nights.
Family walks in the neighborhood (bikes and scooters welcome)
Mother-daugher and Father-daughter date afternoons
Dinner around the table.
Schedule seasonal and weekly activities in the calendar.
Read together on the couch before bed.

Possible road blocks & how to overcome them:

I can only do so much in a day — Be where your feet are. Give that game of hide and seek with your kids all you have and have fun with it. If you’re teaching your children, let them see you giving your full attention.
It may not happen — Work together to cook a meal, clear the table, empty the dishwasher, or fold the towels. (We have this saying in our home: We take care of our things and each other).

How to be okay with the process:

Write down what’s good and be grateful.
Remember this mindset: I get to steward and take care of my home. I have a wonderful opportunity to create beauty, bring order, speak life, give love, and add comfort to the walls of our home and I’m grateful for all of it.

03. GROW ETP IN A HEALTHY WAY

Action Steps:

Cultivate a kind ETP Family culture. A good framework and a good foundation.
Connect and work with others that align with our mission
Help guide and come alongside more parents.
Experiment with new offerings and content.
Share content on a consistent time frame.
Our best content will be found on the blog + monthly newsletter so you can access it whenever you’d like. No fear of missing out necessary. No need to check your phone. Just read it on your own time.
Launch our Daily Routine Guide with an impact goal in mind instead of a sales goal.

Possible road blocks & how to overcome them:

It’s easy to get sidetracked by logistics and numbers — Fight the tension. Focus on how to truly equip you as a company. Build a strong foundation
Knowing you follow hundreds, may even thousands of other people — Add value to your life + create practical tools and content that equips parents to increase their child’s language and communication skills.

How to be okay with the process:

Set work-time margins and have a plan in place
Batch work to know where to focus energy
Schedule regular check-ins
Take note along the way of simple ways to keep things fun and light-hearted

04. More margin

Action Steps:

Schedule — Schedule your priorities instead of scheduling your schedule
Stuff — Get rid of things. If I use it or think it’s beautiful, I’ll keep it.
Brain Space — Cut out some of the noise and distractions (make a list of these)
Progress — Take time to slow down, relax and refresh

Possible road blocks & how to overcome them:

Honestly, I need to spend some extra time here and really think about what parts are most difficult.

How to be okay with the process:

Make a plan. Act on it. Complete it.
Use the moments of margin to make more things happen or to simply enjoy

05. More joy

Action Steps:

Serve others — Look for people to serve and love well
Gratitude — Keep a journal and record what I appreciate
Perspective — Learn to have joy now and when it’s hard

Possible road blocks & how to overcome them:

Managing my expectations — Remember joy is a choice. Start looking for it and keep choosing it.

How to be okay with the process:

Keep the faith. Trials test your faith and produces steadfastness.
Don’t lose heart.
Laugh more. Complain less.

There you have it! Our goals for 2024. Do you have a goal for this year? Share it with us in the comments and let us cheer you on! Send us a DM. Email us. We would love to hear what you’re excited about this year!

Check back in next Monday for our word of the year!

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