One of the things I am passionate about is helping you get things in place so that when a new year rolls around, you can hit the ground running. No hanging back, trying to figure out what you need to do when it’s already halfway through January. Today I am starting a series on goal setting by talking about setting up a vision board.
Are you a goal setter? Do you enjoy writing down your goals or are you more of a digital kind of planner? Or maybe you’ve never set goals before but this is your year to get your business leveled up and you are ready to go with some goals! Whatever the case is, I am going to spend the next couple of episodes talking about how to create goals for the new year and today we’re starting with your vision board.
IE 49: How to Create a Vision Board for Long Term Success
Why a Vision Board Works
I’m sure you’ve seen the pins on Pinterest, the photos on Instagram, and the emails from bloggers talking about vision boards. It’s everywhere these days and there’s good reasoning behind it.
Did you know that you are more likely to accomplish any goals you set if you have a visual representation of those goals? It’s true! Let me tell you a personal story of how written goals worked for me…a non-writer-downer kind of goal setter. (Yes, I totally made up that word.)
5 years ago, I lived in New York and worked as a teacher. I did something totally uncharacteristic for me that year. I wrote down my goals. One of my goals was to be able to retire from teaching. That was my main goal for the future along with also retiring my husband from his career in retail that was slowly but surely sucking the life out of him.
Some of you may know that Joe, my husband, was able to retire from his job on October 31, 2017. He now works full-time for our company, Melrose Family, Inc.
I believe that what made the difference for us was the fact that I actually wrote down my goals.
Action Point- As soon as you finish reading this post or listening to the episode, I want you to sit down and work through this exercise. Make time before the day is over to practice this piece of self-care, thinking through what exactly it is that you want and can see for yourself in 5 years.
I want you to think BIG. Think on a scale of things that would just fill your life with joy if it were to happen. What would you like to see for your family in 5 years? How would your life have changed? What would it be like to live the life you dream of?
As you work through this exercise, there are several areas I want you to consider when creating your vision board-
- Your Family. The first thing I want you to think about is your family. This is the most important piece of the exercise. As you envision the future, what does your relationship with your kids look like? What kinds of things could they be doing if you had your dream life? Maybe it’s just you and a significant other; what does that future look like? Maybe you want to be able to travel around to see family or be available when someone in your extended family needs you.
- Your Love Life. This doesn’t only mean your spouse or partner, it includes children and others as well. Who do you see yourself loving in 5 years? Maybe you see yourself adopting a child. Maybe you want to get involved in charity work in order to spread love far and wide to many more people.
- Your health. What kind of shape do you see yourself in 5 years from now? Do you need to be more physically fit? Look ahead and write down where you want to be physically in 5 years.
- Your Finances. What types of income streams do you see yourself having? What things do you hope to purchase because of that income? What kind of home do you want to live in? What kind of car do you see yourself driving? What kinds of vacations will you be able to take?
- Your Business. This one probably came to your mind first because you are a business person. So what does your business look like in 5 years? Do you see yourself taking sponsored trips? Do you see yourself creating courses? Do you want to be traveling and speaking?
Find Your Pictures
Now that you have some ideas in these areas of what you want your life to look like, I want you to find some visual representations of the things you came up with. If you have magazines laying around, use those.
If you’re trying to avoid magazine clutter, you can just use the internet by going to Google images. Now, I want you to find a picture for each area that we just talked about that represents what that area of your life will look like in 5 years. Print those pictures off if you’re using the internet or cut them out if you have magazines.
Make the Vision Board
Once you have your pictures ready to go, grab a piece of poster paper or cork board, or whatever you have handy, and make a collage of your pictures.
The love life photo I chose is one of Joe and me on our wedding day. I want our relationship to always have that same feeling of adventure we felt at the beginning, of not knowing what all is out there for us.
I also have a photo of my dream house on my vision board. This house is actually close to where we live and is currently on the market. When I saw the price, however, I gave an audible gasp. My hope is that in 5 years, that house will be back on the market and we can buy it without blinking an eye.
I have a photo of a graduation cap with stacks of cash underneath it representing the dream I have that both of my girls’ college will be fully paid for and they will have no need of loans. I actually have more than 5 years to prepare for that, but I would like to at least know it can happen in 5 years.
I even attached a card from the gym I go to. The women at this gym are absolutely rocking their workouts and are in the best shape of their lives. 5 years from now, I want that to be me.
Find a Quote
Once your pictures are attached to your vision board, there’s one more thing I want you to do. I want you to find a quote that ties it all together.
My quote says, “Strong women never settle.”
There are so many ways to do this project. You can use cork board and push pins like me. Or if you’re tech-savvy, you can create a collage on your computer and make it your computer wallpaper.
You need to put this in a spot where you will see the vision board all the time. It should be something you see every day. If you do live broadcasts, consider having it where it shows in your videos.
Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to take these crazy big goals you set and figure out how to break these down into goals that you can actually reach.
I want to see your vision board. So go create them and then share a photo in the comments. Don’t put this off. It’s not just about you; it’s about your family and their future. I want to see what life you imagine for yourself in 5 years and I want to be a part of helping you get there.
If you can’t do this for yourself, do it for your family or just because I told you to!
Don’t Forget:
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