SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE EVERYBODY’S JUST DOING LIFE SEPARATELY. There’s so much going on between work and kids, and everyone’s kind of in their own lanes, on autopilot. But what would it look like and, more importantly, what would it feel like if your family made a shift – a shift from being a group of individuals doing life in tandem to actually operating as a team? 

This is something that not everybody is conscious of. It’s not something that we all focus on or even think of, especially in today’s culture, but it is something that we as a family are focusing on really heavily, and I wanted to share the wins that we’re seeing and how we’re teaching our kids the power of being a family team. And trust me, it changes the energy and the dynamic in your home. Big time.

Let’s raise them up right!

IN THIS EPISODE, WE COVER:

[1:55] What is the Purpose of Your Family? 

Sometimes it feels like everybody’s just doing life separately. One kid is on the fast track to college, the other is in every freaking basketball league that exists, mom is pushing for some big business goal this year and dad’s finally going to write that book. And they come together for meals, hopefully, and they spend time together on the weekends between the sports tournaments, and the chores.

But what is the purpose of it all when it comes to the family? What are you working towards together? This is why we’re here and this is actually a mission we’re working towards as a family. Not just a financial goal, not just a vacation. Why are you in existence? Why were you placed together? Does the family have a vision or a mission? 

This is particularly common in American and really modern cultures, where everyone has their own lane and everyone goes their own way and finds their own success and comes back together for holidays or visits. But, when you look at other cultures, it’s actually not how it works. People might have their own personal goals, that’s fine, but the family shares common goals, common mission, they work together as a team, and that’s where family legacy is truly created.

[3:33] The Missing Piece 

So, have you thought about it? What is your purpose as a family, what is your mission together and is it reflected in everything you do, including your business? 

This is a missing piece for a lot of entrepreneurs who are raising kids. It’s why we feel split in two, because without a family mission and the assurance that your business actually aligns with that mission and supports that mission, things are going to forever feel disjunct .

This took time for us as a family and it’s still something we’re actively doing. It is our call, at least in this season, to bring families together. That’s our mission as a family – to help families discover their missions, to lean into one another and to strengthen and prioritize the family and to start establishing their legacy together. 

[4:26] What Threads Us Together

Before we realized our mission and our calling, everything just kind of felt like a bunch of separate pieces. I kept wondering why I didn’t feel peace, why I didn’t feel clarity, and why I didn’t feel aligned. We were seeing success in business, and our kids were doing well individually, but there was something missing. We weren’t operating as a family, we were operating as a group of people who did life together.  I realized that we needed to discover why we are together as a family and what we are working towards. 

So, Michael and I started to first unearth our values, our priorities and how we’re raising our kids. And it felt like we were raising them to send them off. There was nothing to keep us threaded together aside from blood. And I needed more than that.

[6:25]  Living in Integrity 

When we started talking, we realized that we are really called to model, set the example and to live by the truth that we believe the family is such a gift. And it’s been broken down in today’s culture, especially among entrepreneurs and it’s being deprioritized. 

We’re being called to help families come together. Then I started looking at my business and I realized that I wasn’t doing that in my business. My business really needed to evolve to remain in integrity with that truth. That’s where you guys saw us pivot hugely in the Luminary Leadership Company, realizing that we still want to do what we do, because we love seeing the possibility that can come from helping entrepreneurs scale and grow and build a freedom based business, but how can we help them do it in a way that brings their family together? 

So, I invite you to sit down and really think this piece through, because right now you might be operating in a way where you’re not even conscious of the fact that you might not be working as a family.

[7:41]  Steps to Take 

• The first step is talking about that mission together. What do you feel called to? What are you led to do as a family? What are your values as a family? If you need some support with this, we have a really effective process that you can walk through, that’s going to help you come up with a lot of clarity around what to do in order to bring the family together. It’s called True North; it’s totally free, but it’s really powerful so make sure you go to https://go.luminaryleadershipco.com/truenorth and download this workbook. 
• The next thing is – How can we step in and support one another? For example, we don’t give allowance for chores in our house. This shifts the mindset from “we are a family and we all pitch in” to “I’m in my lane and I do something and I get rewarded for it, for me.” Supporting in the kitchen or with each other, that’s just part of being a team. Everyone supports each other and we do whatever is necessary for the betterment of the team as a whole.
• And finally, making choices in alignment with the family first, not just what the schedule allows. I could take on speaking opportunities that would support the family from a financial perspective, but does it align with our mission of supporting other families? If there’s an opening in my schedule, I could take it, but is that in integrity with how we want to be living together? We have to be more conscious and really be thinking through the choices we’re making personally, in business, and as a family. 

I hope today’s episode gave you exactly what you needed and it showed you the power of a family coming together as a team, around the same mission.

If today’s episode spoke to you, make sure to subscribe and leave us a review. Come connect with me on Instagram at @elizhartke and if there’s a topic, a question or a guest you want to hear on the show or an idea you have for us, just reach out and share that.

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