Ready to set some great 2018 goals? If you don’t have any for family history yet, we’ve got a couple of ideas for your New Year’s resolutions. It’s time to chase your family history!

Clear Up Duplicates

One of the biggest challenges in building an accurate family tree is merging all of those duplicates. But if they’re clogging up your family tree, make a New Year’s resolution to clean them out of your tree. Setting this specific goal for yourself will lead to a neater pedigree with more accurate records. You can learn far more about your ancestors by putting in that extra time to set the records straight!

Gather Your Family’s Stories

Holding potentially dozens of interviews looks daunting! But you can make it easier by setting goals  to talk to your family members and get their stories. You can set goals to attend or hold family reunions in which this will be easier. Or, you can set a number of interviews or family members for a specific, attainable goal.

Find Specific People

It might not be enough to just say you’re going to do genealogy. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or burnt out, you may need to set more specific goals. Reach out along just one branch at a time. Professional Genealogist, Amy Johnson Crow, gives this example: “Rather than saying, ‘I’m going to do genealogy tonight,’ say ‘I’m going to look for George Debolt’s parents.'” This helps you target your focus, get inspired again, and may help you do more work than hopping around at random through your pedigree.

Print a Book or Poster

It’s nice to know that you’ve accomplished so much genealogy work. But it’s even better to show it off! Print a family history photo book or poster with MyCanvas this year! You can use the information right out of your Ancestry.com account.

Get Started!

Many of us have already begun our family history work. But others haven’t! The New Year is a great time to begin your journey into researching and understanding your ancestors.

Well, what are you waiting for? If you feel that desire to get to know your ancestors better and capture their stories, start today!