20 Tips for Moms to make 2020 a Success (Part 1)
Being a mom is the hardest, most wonderful job you could ever have – I’m sure you’ll agree! We all want to experience success in 2020 and more than anything we want that for our children too! Here are the first 20 tips to help you make 2020 your best year yet!
I’m sure you’ve seen quite a few of these 20-something lists for 2020 already. And here is mine. I’ve written many of these tips for myself because there are so many areas I’d love to see growth in this year! Some of these tips are directly from teacher experience and will help take the stress out of school and set your child up for academic success this year. Some of them are just to remind us moms of what’s important and to prioritise those things!
So, here we go! I hope you’ll find a few of these tips at least that you can identify with; write them down and take some action this year!
1) Get your priorities straight.
What is important to you? If you had to make a list of these things, what would it look like?
Now, does your schedule reflect those priorities?
Sometimes our schedules get filled up with things that are urgent but not necessarily the most important. And the things, and people, that we classify as most important to us get sidelined.
The beginning of a year is the perfect time to commit to prioritising the things that are most important.
So, make that list. And then figure out what it means or looks like to prioritise those things. Finally, the hardest step – commit to take action! Commitment will lead to opportunities for success in 2020.
2) Help your child set goals for themselves.
This is the first step to teaching your child how to do Tip #1 in their own lives. If they learn how to set goals, and take action to accomplish those goals, when they’re young, it will become an automatic way of life when they’re older.
Setting goals is often portrayed or understood as some pie-in-the-sky kind of thing. I want to encourage you to help your child set realistic goals and then plan, for each goal, how they will accomplish that goal step-by-step. You will see them blossom in amazing ways when they start to experience success in achieving their goals for 2020.
These are important skills – it’s planning, it’s problem solving, it’s commitment.
Here is a great starting point, for setting goals for 2020; goals that go beyond your child’s academic aspirations and cover all areas of their lives! This post has a FREEBIE you can access here to help you set goals with your child.
3) Set some of your own goals for personal growth.
This is slightly different to Tip #1 where you just considered what your priorities are. This is more concrete. What are the actual goals you want to achieve this year?
I’d say print two copies of the goal setting freebies – one for your child and one for you. And take some time to set your own goals for this year!
They can be things like working toward that promotion or making your business a success in 2020. But they can also be, to spend some time every day doing something with your child, where there are no other distractions. It could be that you want to develop a more positive and grateful attitude. Maybe you want to overcome an unhealthy and destructive habit that is holding you back from being the best version of yourself.
No one else has to see this list. But write it down. Maybe even on the back of that list of your priorities for the year. And keep it accessible, look at it every day. Keep yourself accountable.
4) Have fun together.
When last have you laughed together as a family or played together or done something you can say “Wow! That was actually so much fun!” about?
Life is stressful and busy. Sometimes we just fly through one day into the next, into the next, and so on. We miss precious opportunities and moments.
Enjoy life together. Find something fun you can all do together. Schedule that time into your monthly planner and prioritise it!
Having fun together builds relationship, provides the opportunity to learn more about each other and sends a super clear message that sits deep in each member’s heart: We will be together through the good times and as we face the bad times. That’s powerful.
Your definition of ‘success’ in 2020 might not be about academic or material achievement. Maybe it’s all about succeeding in building up these relationships and prioritising them above everything else!
5) Spend quality time with each child individually.
The focus of Tip #4 is to build unity and relationship as a whole family unit. This Tip is about building that special bond between members of the family unit – particularly between you and your kiddos.
You know better than anyone else how unique and indiviudal each of your children is.
Building a strong relationship with each one is crucial and the best way to build any relationship is to spend quality time together getting to know each other!
Do something with them that they enjoy doing. Listen to them. Learn about them. And then let them in too, to learn about you and hear your heart too!
Making time for each child tells them that they are valuable and loved for who they are and that they are important enough for you to set aside everything else to spend this time with them.
6) Listen to your child.
Do you feel like your head, and ears, are so full of noise sometimes? Noise from work, home, traffic, shopping malls, a crying baby, a whining toddler, a grumpy teenager, our own thoughts. Sometimes I think we’d all love a mute button so we could get a moment’s peace!
It’s usually in one of those hectic moments that a little voice utters a statement or drops a question. Perhaps you don’t even hear it. Maybe you do but it’s going to take some thought and a carefully crafted answer. Sometimes it’s going to take listening to more context before you answer.
That little heart needs your ear.
Let’s work on listening to our kiddos. Really listening. Hearing the heart behind the question or comment. Listening for the real, deeper issue they’re grappling with.
But let’s be honest, sometimes it’s not actually that deep. Listening to that random story that actually made no sense ( can you tell I’m a #toddlermom hahaha), communicates to your child that their voice is worth being heard! And more importantly, that you will ALWAYS be there to listen, with an open heart, no matter how deep or trivial the content!
7) Set boundaries for your children.
Children really thrive in environments where there are clear, well-established, well-enforced boundaries.
Yes, they’ll push those boundaries and it’ll drive you nuts!
Healthy boundaries create a sense of security and stability. You will teach your children how to set healthy boundaries for themselves. You will show them that boundaries are good and helpful for so many areas of life.
So, limit their screen time so they can do other activities. Set boundaries on their social time, on time spent playing sports, so they can prioritise getting homework done. Limit their evening TV time so they can get to bed early enough. Help them set boundaries in group work projects so everyone has a fair share of the work. Help them set deadlines for themselves and plan to achieve what they need to by those dates.
They’ll thank you for it one day! (Even if, right now, you have to deal with a temper tantrum.)
8) Establish routines to eliminate stress.
If you examine your day, you’ll realise how much of it is routine – steps you take, every day, in the same way to get something done. Whether you actively planned it so or it just happened naturally. I thinks it’s just part of our nature to have and create a sense of order.
As much as kids thrive within boundaries, they also seem to thrive within routine. Though it will look different for each person.
Establish routines for getting up and getting ready in the morning, for getting home in the afternoons, for homework time, for studying time. Don’t just wing it
First it will take the anxiety and stress out of trying to remember everything that needs to be done every day. It prevents as much being forgotten or left incomplete. It creates a sense of security because your child knows what to expect next.
For young children and those that struggle with change, routines are vital to creating a sense of calm and security in knowing what to do, what they should focus on, when that activity ends and what should be done when it does end.
Where can you polish the routines in your life and your family’s lives so you can enjoy a more peaceful, organised home?
9) Help your child develop good study habits.
Studying is a reality for the duration of your child’s schooling. Whether it is for a weekly cycle test or for exams once or twice a year, your child needs to establish some great study habits that will help them study effectively. If your child wants to experience success in 2020, academically, this advice will show them how!
These posts about developing healthy study skills (from our Exam Series) will be a super valuable resource for you! (PLUS there are Freebies with every post!)
There is one habit I think is those most valuable to develop, because it helps a child work through the content over time and takes the overwhelm and stress out of cramming last minute.
This habit is to study a little 2-3 days of the week. Split up the work that has been covered in that week into 2 or 3 parts. Study each part on a different day. Use this Study To-Do List to organise their study content.
There are many ways to study, and doing so according to your child’s learning style will help them take in, retain and be able to use that info later, most effectively.
No more late night cramming before the test or exam. No more fighting and arguing as you try to get them to study an overwhelming amount of content because they’ve left it to the last minute. Just a small, bite-size chunk, every day.
10) Remember you’re not in this alone!
And the last Tip for this week is to remember that you’re not alone.
Being a parent is hard. Leading, guiding, coaching, protecting, teaching, disciplining your child is hard! And whether you’re doing this with a spouse or partner or you’re on your own, it can feel overwhelmingly difficult sometimes.
Don’t buy into the lie that you’re on your own.
There are people around you who understand. Those have been there. Who are there right now. Who will stand by you and walk with you. Tap into that resource! Lean on those people. One day when you’re feeling strong, they can lean on you!
I love a list!
Whenever I feel overwhelmed I write a list. It’s my coping mechanism – for better, or for worse. Most times, once I have penned the words, written down what actually needs to be done, it doesn’t feel so overwhelming as before! I feel like I can actually get it done!
Pick one or a few of these tips that resonated with your heart today and write them down. Then give it a shot. Write down some action steps – just one or two – you can do for each of those tips. You know in your heart what to do. You know what needs attention.
Now this week, work on accomplishing them! This is the first step in making a success of 2020.
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