Meeting Your Goals in 2014- Is a Vision Board the Answer?

As part of my personal goals, I joined a Challenge group to help me work on health and wellness goals.  One of the assignments in my Challenge group was to write down goals for 2014.  We all know that writing down goals makes it a lot more likely that we will follow through.  To take it one step further, lots of people in my group created vision boards.  The assignment required us to think about our goals, write them down, and then make it a bit fun by adding pictures.  I decided to do some research on vision boards and their effectiveness.  I found a lot of information, and several articles that strongly argued why vision boards don't work, but overall, they can be an excellent tool in organizing and sharing your goals.  Below are some guidelines on creating the vision board itself and then some thoughts to follow to increase the likelihood that the goals you create on your board will be the goals you reach this year.

Creating Your Vision Board

Find Image Sources

You can create vision boards online or with the help of software. If you want to go old school, get out some old magazines, scissors, glue, and posterboard.  Do some planning before you glue them down.  If you want a digital vision board, search for images on websites you frequently visit or use keywords of goals you have in mind. 

 

Allow Your Unconscious Mind to Help Out
There are two basic procedures involved in creating an effective vision board. First, instead of scouting familiar images, look for the unfamiliar. Don't over think it.  Just page through a magazine (and walk through the world) noticing things that trigger physical reactions: a heart thump, a double take, a gasp. 


Let Go Mentally and Emotionally. 

Stop thinking about it. Enjoy this process in preparation for working on your goals throughout the year.  Put on some music or a movie you enjoy and create away.

Use the Vision Board as the Big Picture

A vision board simply by itself is not going to manifest all of your hopes and dreams. It still takes hard work, effort, and consistently reevaluating how to reach your goals.  It also takes some faith and some self-confidence.  See below for additional ideas on putting the vision board into action.

 Putting Your Visions Into Action

Focus on the process, not just the finish line.
We've been taught to focus on the cars, houses and money. But all of those are RESULTS that are caused by something else.  Concentrate on what will produce results, rather than on the results themselves.  If you want to lost 20 pounds, it is unlikely that you will do that just by thinking it. Rather, form a plan to eat healthier and exercise as a means to being 20 pounds lighter.
  
Get connected
Identify your key strategic partners to help you get where you want to go, and stay connected with the.  Especially when you feel like you are not going to reach your goal, leaning on your support people can reignite that sense of motivation. 

Do one thing at a time
"By the inch, it's a cinch. By the yard, it's hard."  We are a society of multitasking and my theory is that all of the multitasking is the main reason we are all stressed most of the time.  Pick one thing at a time- one goal for the day, or one task for the hour.  Breaking it down will help you keep your focus, and be more productive.
 
List your Whys Write WHY you want to succeed. These can be things like spending more time with family, that new car, or to be more present in the moment.  Understanding the WHY behind your goal will give you that motivation and keep you going more than surface level reasons.


 My Vision Board for 2014

 

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