Wouldn’t it be nice if I was able to sit here and tell you that I accomplished everything on my vision board? What a grand post that would be! But alas, that is not what this post is about.
Now mind you, it’s also not a boo hoo I failed post either. It’s just an honest reflection of what I did wrong last year around this time and what I am doing better. As usual, I’m sharing all of my successes and failures with you so that hopefully it will save you a little time.
Let’s begin at the beginning.
The concept of a vision board is very Oprah-ish. For most people it is based off the law of attraction. If you begin to envision what you want and see it daily you are more likely to attract those things to your life. Before her retirement, Oprah even held a vision board show. (You can just imagine the posterboard stocks soaring, can’t you?) Now there are workshops and youtube videos and all about how to create your vision board.
But last year around this time when I set your to make mine with my husband and children I decided to just, you know, wing it.
Insert reason number one, why my vision board failed.
Basically, what we had was a mad magazine clipping event, that ended up having too much Disney and not enough substance. The back story for the vision board is important. The why matters as much as the what. SO this year, I’m starting with the why.
For me, my word for 2015 is intentional. I want my life to be an intentional expression of my passion, values and purpose. I want to share this with my family and all those that I encounter and so the why for me is to be clear that my actions are in line with my intentions. So before I started putting the board together I spent a few days looking through some magazines for inspiration and spent some time reflecting on what I wanted to accomplish for the year.
Reason number two for the failure of my vision board was that it wasn’t personal enough. It was very superficial. Partially because I made it with my children, I didn’t want to be too deep. This year, I made sure we each completed our own board. As a family we have goals sure, and we do share a common vision, but the board has to be personal to be effective. So we made the boards at the same time, but each of us has our own. Leila for instance is in a fashion phase so she has more, umm, accessories on her board than I would like, but hey she is five.
Third reason for the flop, I didn’t look at the board.
Sounds silly but by February the poster board was crumpled on the side of the desk and aside from a few times during the year when I pulled it out to look to take a glance, it went largely unseen. So the vision board was not V-I-S-U-A-L-I-Z-E-D. Enough said.
The final challenge that I tackled this year was adding the plan to the board. Yes, the pictures helped but having direction with the board was a big piece of what I was missing. This year with my board I looked at a couple templates on Pinterest, and used the categories as direction for completing the board. Here are the categories I used:
Fun and Recreation
Personal Growth
Romance/Relationship
Friends/Family
Physical Environment
Business and Career
Finances
Health
Over the course of the year, I will be adding to the board as new goals come up. So, are you creating a vision board this year? Leave me a note in the comments. Happy New Year, 2015 is going to be great.
