In addition to coming up with a list of values and principles that guide your family, Bruce Feiler, author of The Secrets of Happy Families, suggests brainstorming a list of phrases that really capture the goals and mission of your family. For example, Sean Covey’s (Stephen Covey’s son) family chose a line from the animated film Meet the Robinsons that captures their goal as a family: “Keep Moving Forward.”
Feiler’s family chose, “May your first word be adventure and your last word love,” as one of their catchphrases (I really like that one).
Your phrases can come from books, movies, poems, or speeches. Or they can be catchphrases you completely make up yourselves.
As die hard Friday Night Lights fans, Kate and I picked Coach Eric Taylor’s famous “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose” saying as one of the McKay family’s maxims. We even put that motto in vinyl lettering above the door out to the garage (a moral reminder!) so we see it when leaving the house.