I was recently asked what happens to your personal goals when you concentrate on family goals. Personal goals and values occur within the context of your family goals. Let’s say the family’s mission statement is to inspire and heal. Each family member participates in this, as well as completes their own personal mission statement and quest. All of the purposes should merge.

Transformation is a family affair. Your children need to know that although tough times may lie ahead, their family is strong and united. Turn your family into a team. Go through the steps of this workbook with your spouse and your children. The rewards for your work, I promise, are much greater than you’ve ever imagined. FAMILY PROJECT

Turn off the television. Shut down the video games. Take the phone off the hook. Set up a sacred time when you can all get together and focus on creating miracles. Provide a large sheet of poster paper for each member of the family and several extras for the group or family projects. Have stacks of magazines laid out on a table, and ask each member to flip through several to collect the pictures and words that inspire them. Build up an extensive collection of fascinating collage materials, and when you are ready, start to create the new life. This activity is especially recommended for the ones who draw a blank when you ask them to define their miracle. Though they may not have the vocabulary to tell you their mission statement, they can certainly tell you what it is that they love to do, and the two are inseparable.

Glue pictures onto the poster boards to represent your family values and spirituality. Glue photos of homes, furnishings, travel itineraries, cars, and all the things you want to have. You get the picture. In doing this, you will be creating your family life map. In the center, place a family portrait, and radiating outward, begin to list all the things that your family wants to be, already has, and intends to do together.

What type of life will you have together?

WARNING: Spending time together working on projects has been known to strengthen family bonds, correct problems, and lessen frustrations. Common side effects include loss of time with video games and television. Do this project at your own risk.

Next, once these miracles start to manifest, hold weekly family meetings to discuss the wins. A win is anything that someone intends to do. So if you intend to get to the grocery store, even though you have a million things to do, and you go, that’s a win. If you get to buy your dream house, that’s a win. After each person has stood up and said his or her win, have everyone clap. This is a good meeting to include neighbor kids and school friends. You want them to see what you can do when you put your mind to it.

This process of acknowledging what you have done is essential. Commit to this rule: there will be no mention of losses. You can discuss a plan to take a failure and turn it into a win, but unlike an AA meeting, this group discussion is not designed to talk about failure or loss. The idea is to uplift and send out positive vibes into the physical universe. DEVELOP YOUR OVERALL GAME PLAN.