I love creating vision boards. It’s a fun way to verify your goals! The purpose of a vision board, besides looking pretty, is to accomplish the goals printed on the board. Goals can be as big or small as you want them to be, and serve as a visual reminder of what you are striving for. Not only does it give you determination to accomplish them, but once you do, there is no greater feeling of excitement.
Like many, I hopped on this trend and started creating vision boards for myself three years ago, starting around New Year’s Day. I have created both digital and paper vision boards, which gave me some insight to what you need to start your own from scratch. Pro tip: A digital vision board is easier to create. It allows you to move images easily, just drag or copy & paste. This way, you don’t have to look for images in magazines or go through the trouble of printing them. With physical vision boards, you would have to cut and glue each picture… And that doesn’t even account for the time you take to find the perfect place for each image to lay.
In my transition from physical to digital boards, here are some things I did differently for this year’s vision board:
Make A List of Goals Before Making your Vision Board
The first change in this year’s vision board is writing down my goals on a list. Writing down the goal allows you to think of the image you would pair it with. Whether it represents the journey you would take to reach the goal, or depict the accomplishment once completed, thinking of an image beforehand saves you time. You can also write the goals behind the poster board, that way if you don’t want the constant reminder in your face, or forget what the image on the front represents, you can easily check it. This has helped me remember why every goal is important to me. Writing down your goals makes you think about what you wrote, and helps you verify what you are working on.
Organize Your Goals & Pictures
I pick pictures and goals based on preset categories. Some general categories of mine are physical items, health, experiences, and travel destinations. You can add more, based on what you want to do throughout the year. For instance, trying a new dish or hobby. Or even planning that trip you always wanted to take, but never got around to doing.
Make Them Your Reality
Sometimes, you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone and take a small step towards completing your goals. I force myself to accomplish at least one goal a month. I know that if I leave it to the next day, then I will keep pushing it off. My first completed goals include making those purchases I have been wanting to make, and prepping my traveling plans. To accomplish these goals, I began with the small step of finding the days in my calendar that could be closed off for the trip I have in mind. Also, mentioning the places I wanted to go to in daily conversation made it real. Bringing it up and setting a clear date in my calendar really focused my attention on the goal I want to accomplish. (Bringing things up with people around you might create opportunities to find people with the same interests, which can lead to a shared vision board trip goal being met!)
We’re in the fifth month of the year, and I am glad to say that I already accomplished many things on my vision board!
A little push in the right direction can really change your future plans. There were many times when I would tell myself how I should hold off and plan something during another year, when I would be less busy. This caused me to not prioritize my goals, and live with some regret. I learned that prioritizing your goals is prioritizing yourself. I know it sounds like I think about my vision board every waking moment, but I don’t. If I did, I would feel like I am investing more time into it than I should. Having the vision board as a background on my computer, iPad, and phone did not help these goals come to life. It would be visually pleasing when I turn on my devices, but nothing more if I did not make them a reality. The time and effort I put into it should serve two purposes: an aesthetically pleasing board and manifestation for the future. What helps me keep my goals as a constant reminder in the background of my life is taping it to the ceiling above my bed. It’s the first thing I see when I wake up, and the last thing I see as I am falling asleep. But, it’s not just the vision board I am prioritizing, it’s all about what it represents: prioritizing myself.