In this week’s episode I walk through the process we’ve used to guide our family conversations about finding that “family land” for the long haul. Finding land with family can be a dicey endeavor – it requires honesty, real listening and everyone coming with the goal of understanding one another. If you come to a family land search with the idea of convincing everyone to see things your way, it’s going to cause lots of drama and potentially damage some of the most valuable relationships in your life.
I’ll take you through the three main parts of our family’s process:
- Developing individual Quality of Life Statements – a clear one paragraph description of how each individual wants their life to be based on what they value most. This is step 2 from the Minimum Holistic Goal Creation Course.
- Setting individual Boundary Conditions for beginning your geographic search – start with the two essential lists of boundary criteria; Must Haves and Deal Breakers. Get clear on what you must have and what you will not accept and, most importantly, WHY. Criteria Categories include Natural Resources, Climate, Legal, Taxes, Community/Cultural Amenities, Sound…and whatever else you need to speak!
- Share it with your people – THis is where the rubber meets the road – actually communicating your desired Quality of Life and Boundary Conditions. We developed a protocol we call “Stick Conversations” to make sure everyone got to say their piece in a way that helped everyone else understand, while minimizing opportunities for hurt feelings, project, judgement etc.
I hope this episode will help you have similar conversations with your family, or any group of people near and dear to you, so that all are better off for having had them. Done right, even when points of conflict are unearthed, sharing this introspective work with your inner circle can bring everyone closer together.
Getting started designing your homestead?
START HERE: Enroll in the Minimum Holistic Goal Creation Mini-Course today for free. This is the ONE THING that will make everything else easier or unnecessary on your homesteading journey! 100% Free
Upon completing this course you will have a crystal clear idea of who and what resources you have to work with, your desired Quality of Life that your homestead has to provide for, and what you will need to produce and the conditions required to sustain that production to meet your Quality of Life needs.
Music by Alex Grohl
