Forget making New Year’s Resolutions. Try a Vision Board Instead!
Grab a coffee, a note pad and give yourself an afternoon of dreaming and then planning for the next year (or more).
To get yourself started, you need to be able to articulate what you want in life. This is a really big question. Break it down by asking what excites you and makes you happy? What does a good life look like? What activities or hobbies do you want to learn or improve upon? Do you want to go on a travel vacation? Or become more involved in your community. Whatever you come up with, make sure it is something that will bring you joy.
Now for the fun part! Start writing words and inspiring phrases, gather some pictures from your photo albums, magazines, online or even Pinterest!
For example, if you enjoy cooking, meeting with friends and losing the dreaded 10 lbs., while not spending a ton of money, what would your Vision Board look like? Think out of the box for the steps you could take to accomplish these goals. Maybe it would be to get a group of friends together for a monthly potluck where you bring a healthy dessert from a newly learned recipe. Perhaps getting together to volunteer at a community soup kitchen is more doable.
Some Vision Boards are more theme related. An African Safari perhaps? Pictures of the animals, who you will travel with, the food you will enjoy while there and so on. If you dream of this kind of vacation, and you need to save money towards it, you might find yourself preparing more home cooked meals than going to restaurants or buying that morning coffee on the way to work every day (no one said that reaching your goals would be easy).
Don’t overthink this. Don’t worry if there is no rhyme or reason to what makes you happy. This is a personal exercise that when you look at your board, it will make you smile and dream of what’s to come. What a positive way to start the day!
Put it all together by using a magnetic, cork or chalk board, a journal, or even your fridge! It could also be in an electronic format. Whatever works best for you.
Some tips for success:
– Commit to looking at the board at least weekly, daily is better
– Don’t just dream about the end goal – actively participate in the process of getting to the end goal. So even if the Africa Safari doesn’t pan out this year, you will have achieved some of the smaller goals to get you there: achieve financial success by eating out less and thereby losing weight. And that’s still a win!
Excerpt from a January 2019 Snap article and written by Dina Campeis.
