10 Couples Goal Planning Questions for the Next 10 Years

Goal setting with your spouse is one of those good ideas we talk about, but it can easily get lost in the shuffle of life. To turn this couples goal planning into a meaningful exercise you’ll actually use, keep reading as we’ll walk you through:

• The types of questions should you be asking
• The ideas for questions to ask
• How to put this into practice

WHAT TYPES OF GOAL PLANNING QUESTIONS SHOULD YOU BE ASKING AS A COUPLE?

When it comes to creating couples goal planning, you need to distill it to specific categories if you want to create focus in what you do. As you think about where you want to be in 10 years, there tend to be 3 primary buckets of emphasis.

THE THREE COUPLES GOAL PLANNING QUESTION TYPES

The big theme we’d continue to point you back to is that God intended your family to last generationally. Where you head in the next 10 years also sets the tone for the next 100 years! So look at these three areas to help set your foundation:

1. Spiritual
   As you plan where you want to head, start a bucket specifically for goals/questions tied to your spiritual life. Think about what will help set meaningful faith foundations, not just more activities. Try to stretch yourself beyond the typical Christian answers like pray more or read the Bible more.
2. Relational
   The second area of emphasis for questions to ask about goals is tied to relationships. Think about what needs to change in your family relationships. How do you want to be known?
3. Aspirational
   The final category for questions to ask tied to goals is the aspirational bucket. This is where some of the bigger dreams can come into play. Where do you sense God pushing you towards?

THE 10 GOAL PLANNING QUESTIONS TO ASK

Now that you have your 3 buckets, it’s time to start developing your questions! Take some time to brainstorm on the categories above, and use these 10 questions to start good conversations with your spouse. Remember, what you are creating helps set your trajectory for not only the next 10 years but even the next generations!

1. What specific practices do we need to cultivate that help us take ownership of discipleship in our home?
2. Are there generational sins or patterns in our families’ histories that we feel called to break and how will we do that?
3. What behaviors need to shift in how we handle conflict so that we are modeling healthy relational dynamics to our family?
4. What specific character traits would create the type of legacy we’d be proud of?
5. What has God equipped us to do as a unique couple, not just individuals, that we need to steward?
6. What would faithful generosity look like for us and where do we need to keep developing it toward?
7. How will we handle seasons when we are spiritually dry or discouraged?
8. How much are we living for comfort vs calling, and what might need to shift based on that honest answer?
9. If our grandchildren were asking us about our past, what would we regret not having done?
10. Are we making decisions with our time and money that reflect our values consistently or how many decisions just get made by default?

These questions are just a few ideas to help you take inventory both where you are now and where you may want to head.

TURN ANSWERS INTO GOALS

Now that you are having conversations with these questions, and hopefully creating your own questions with the 3 categories, it’s time to translate the answers into your goal planning. (Get our free goal planning template if you want extra help!)

Use these pointers to help take what you’ve identified and move it to action:

1. Look for consistent themes across your answers. What struggles, strengths, or desires do you see underlining the answers? Use that to help narrow down areas of focus.
2. Identify major roadblocks. What are the big sticking points you need to address sooner than later?
3. Identify the big picture vision of where you want to be headed. This is a crucial step because it can tend to get lost if all we do is focus on the immediate problems at hand. Use vision to help lay out steps that move you towards accomplishing it.
4. Create targets for specific intervals of time. What needs to change in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years?

Get started on your planning to start moving beyond just living short-term. Get back to God’s design!

COUPLES GOAL PLANNING BUILDS THE FUTURE

This exercise to plan your goals as a couple is more than just activities. God intended your family to last, so what you are building now is the anchors for generations. That is a serious undertaking! In such a busy culture, it can be easy to lose sight of the future God called you to, so use this as a moment to push back against outside influences and create intentionally as a family.

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Want more insight into your trajectory as a family? We built our Family Core Survey to help you do just that! You’ll answer some quick questions and get a detailed report on the state of your family in 5 foundational areas. Take the survey here!