I started the year off by writing about success statements from a business perspective. As a refresher, success statements help do three things:
Success statements help me get clear on what winning looks like.
Success statements help align the leader to the follower and the follower to the leader.
Success statements help evaluate how things are going in real time.
While all the above is a natural fit for business leadership, it also helps plan a family vacation.
While I admit that may sound a little “out of left field,” consider this: What family vacation would not benefit from a clear understanding of what will make it a success and ensure everyone’s aligned toward that goal?
I think all family vacations would. So I put this into practice during our family’s first European vacation with all five of us.
How we made it happen
One night after dinner, I explained success statements to my family. I asked my three kids, “For you to consider our vacation a success, what are the one or two things you want to do in Europe?”
I then went on Amazon and ordered notebooks for their trip. Each of them picked out the color they wanted — blue for the boys and pink for Sadie, naturally! They then took some time to consider what success would look like for them. Meanwhile, Sarah and I discussed what success would look like for the entire family. After all, we also needed success statements for our “company”!
Here’s what we came up with:
Family success statement
Our family will stay safe, have fun, and learn something new every day of our trip.
Individual success statements
Will: I will remain flexible about the lack of sleep due to the time change and embrace each day’s adventure with a positive attitude.
Ben: I will go all-in on our day at Normandy, soaking up every second of that adventure.
Sadie: I will get a picture of myself at the Eiffel Tower.
Dad: I will be present by leaving work in the States, seeking adventure, and thanking God for each moment. Additionally, I set a rule for myself: I would limit checking my work email to before and after our sightseeing for the day. I would only do the necessary decluttering and save the rest for post-vacation.
Sarah hadn’t clarified what her personal success statement was beforehand. But it was clear that she was present at every moment, tended to every need the kids had (two were sick the entire time we were there), and was all-in on our family success statement.
Evaluating each vacation day
Not only did we all write the family success statement and personal success statement in our journals, but I also challenged everyone to keep a journal while on vacation.
The prompts I gave the kids, and the ones that I used were the following:
Three questions
- How well did you meet your success statements today? In other words, was it a green, yellow, or red day?
- What was a highlight or win?
- What was something new you learned, found interesting, or something fun you ate?
We spent a few minutes answering these questions each night after we got home from dinner. This led to even more conversations about what had happened during the day.
For example, one day, Ben called me out for processing a work issue out loud on the train. Because of this, he said my success statement for the day needed to be yellow. I told him he was probably right, so yellow it was. I ended the trip with two yellow days, and everything else was green. This would not have happened unless I had clarified what success looked like to me and everyone else.
How did everyone else do?
Bless his heart, Will kept a great attitude despite having walking pneumonia and not sleeping well.
Ben walked Omaha Beach in an absolute downpour. I will never forget the image of my two boys collecting sand off the beach in the rain. Combine this with watching the flag ceremony at the American Cemetery, and it is safe to say that this day is one none of us will ever forget.
Sadie got her picture underneath the Eiffel Tower. I even went down on the ground to take it, which I am not known for doing—being that “touristy” guy. But I knew what success looked like for her, and I was all in. The cloudless Paris sky on a perfect 70-degree October day was simply a foretaste of heaven.
Our family stayed safe, had fun, and learned something every single day. It was a great success. Does this mean we were the perfect family? Heck no. The kids watched way too many screens in the hotel rooms. I still thought about work a lot, and I sometimes had to nudge everyone to do their journals each night. But by clarifying what success looked like in advance and getting everyone on the same page, we leaned into the moments that mattered. And that is a success in itself!