Creating a Vision Board

How many of you make New Year Resolutions?

I know I used to. Every year I’d set a goal to lose weight, exercise more, work on my finances, be a better mom, etc. I’d wake up on January 1st ready to tackle every flaw I possess! I did FANTASTIC…for the first four hours! Okay, maybe it was a little longer than four hours…but not much. Within a day or two, I’d slip right back into my routine and lose focus! (Course at my age losing focus happens every 5 seconds… and requires multiple pairs of “readers” lying around my Nest! Lol)

Last year everything changed! In a BIG way! What was the game changer? A Vision Board!

“A What?”

A Vision Board! It’s okay… I wasn’t sure what one was either, until I was invited by a fellow blogger, Jocelyn D. Adams, from Grand baby Cakes, to join a special Facebook Group Page she was hosting.

Right out of the shoot she challenged us to take our goals for 2017 and create a board that would be a constant reminder of those goals.

I’ll admit… I was slightly skeptical. It sounded like a lot of time, and effort, for something that might not work. Plus… I was up to my eyeballs in a million other projects. However… I REALLY wanted to reach my goals for 2017, so I decided I’d give it a try.

I had 10 BIG goals I wanted to reach for 2017! These were not little goals. These were goals that seemed totally beyond my reach. I had no idea how I was going to accomplish these goals… I just knew I really wanted to make them happen.

Let me start out by saying, I don’t think there is a right way or a wrong way to make a Vision Board. I’m just sharing what I did, and what worked for me personally.

Supplies You’ll Need:

A cork board – Mine is 16 x 20, and I purchased it at Walmart for about $9.

Scrapbook paper, magazines, stickers, double-sided tape, scissors, and cute tack pins.

Your Goals!

Your Motivational “WORD FOR THE YEAR”!

To Start Off…

Pick a board that works for you!

I wanted a cork board. I wanted a board that would be pretty enough to display in my office. I figured the only way a “Vision Board” would work was if I could constantly see it. That meant it was going over the desk in my office. (I tend to look up a lot when I’m writing.)

However, you can use Poster Board. Whatever is going to work for you and your budget. I know some friends who do “Vision books”. I’m going to be honest…a book wouldn’t have worked for me. I would have just put it on a shelf and forgotten about it. I needed daily constant reminders!

PLACE YOUR BOARD WHERE YOU CAN SEE IT DAILY!

I covered my board in some pretty scrap-book paper that I knew I could change out every year. I used Tack Pins to hold it down to the cork board.

Pick your “Motivational Word” for the Year!

Mine was “Believe”! I placed it top and center on my board! I wanted to BELIEVE I could accomplish everything on my board!

Pick a word that is going to MOTIVATE you in reaching for your goals! This is a really important step in the “Vision Board” process!

In addition to my board… I found other ways to incorporate my “word” into my office decor.

Like this pretty mug filled with flowers. Just a sweet little reminder to “Believe” in myself.

What about a cute little sign? Work your “Word” into your surroundings. You’ll be amazed how these subtle little things work into your subconscious mind! MOTIVATION IS KEY! However, you can work it in…work it in!

Next I mentally divided my board in half. You don’t have to do this…again, this is just what worked for me.

I wanted a clear division between “work” and “personal” goals!

I’m going to share my goals with you. I know your goals will be different. However, I want you to see how having a “Vision Board” helped me accomplish my goals and the things I used to help remind me of those goals!

Let’s start with the work side…

Goal #1) I wanted to design my own products and open an Etsy Shop. So up on the board went an “Etsy” sign.

I surrounded it with stickers of happiness because I knew it was going to take a lot of work, and be very stressful, to accomplish that goal! (Boy was I right! Lol) I wanted a reminder to find “JOY” in the process.

I had no idea how I was going to make it happen. However, with a lot of hard work, Norine’s Country Nest was born.

Goal #2) I wanted to write a cookbook! (I still want to write a cookbook!) So up went a cut out of the word “cookbook” and a cute quote I found as a reminder of this goal.

This is the one goal that is still a work in progress! I’m okay that I didn’t accomplish this goal in 2017.

After looking into it, I decided to “shelf” this idea for 2018! There are a lot of reason’s I made this decision and I share this because I want you to know…if you don’t hit a 100% of your goals… it’s OKAY! I know without the Vision Board I wouldn’t have hit the other 9 goals. So I’m not going to beat myself up over the one I didn’t accomplish.

Goal #3) A 100,000 page views in a month on the blog! I printed off a copy of my logo and a sign that said 100,000 and doubled taped them to the board.

This was the goal I almost didn’t put up on my board. It was so out of reach at the time. I debated back and forth about placing this on the board! I thought I was setting myself up for Failure for sure! Who does that?

Then in a split second I decided…you’re either all in or you’re all out! DO IT! And I did.

The first five months of this year I thought there was NO WAY I was going to hit that number. NO WAY! Then halfway through the year my numbers started a steady upward climb. In October, I hit 117,000 page views. WoooHooo!

I can’t lie… I sat there staring at that board and just cried! There is no greater joy than accomplishing a goal that seemed totally unobtainable!

Goal #4) Was to pay off bills! I placed this on the “work” side because I knew it was through building my business I’d accomplish this goal. I found a quote on-line about “Pursuit” of Financial Freedom. BAM! Up on the board it went.

We were able to pay off several bills and it feels GREAT!

Goal #5) Was to have “my business” make money! (Isn’t that why we all work?)

I wanted to have my husband quit his second job and only have to work ONE job. (Ya know…like most people!) I’m happy to say as of October he quit his second job! The blog is finally making money!

A small sign with “YES” spelled out in dollar bills was my motivational reminder for that goal. We feel extremely blessed!

Next I focused on the personal side…

I think to be successful you have to be balanced in all area’s of your life! If you focus too much on one area, the other areas will suffer. That’s not good for you, and it’s not good for the people in your life.

Goal #6) ALWAYS put FAMILY FIRST!

For me…all the other goals would be pointless without my family! It’s just that simple. They are the BEST of ME! They make me who I am. Long after this life is over… I will still have them! These are my “Peeps”!!! Lol

A photo of my family was my “reminder” of this goal!

If it came down to helping my daughter by babysitting my grand baby or blogging…guess who won? Yep! She did. I have a limited amount of time left here on earth and I want her, and all my grand children, to have memories of our time together.

Not only that… I want my daughter to know she has a support system to help her with this “motherhood” thing!

Serve your family and God first…everything else will fall into place!

Goal #7) GOD and my beliefs!

I don’t know if “God” makes deals? It doesn’t really matter. What matters is I made a goal.

My goal was to serve him more in 2017 as a way of showing gratitude for all he has given me! So a picture of my Savior and a quote was what I used as a reminder of this goal.

I honestly and sincerely believe that my choosing to serve him more… opened the windows of heaven so that he could pour his blessings upon me.

Never underestimate gratitude and service!

Goal #8) A family Trip to Virginia!

This was another “biggie”! Our son and daughter-in-law were expecting their first baby in July. We don’t travel much because funds have always been very limited. Family Vacations were usually camping trips or “Stay-cations”.

I wasn’t sure how this one was going to happen? I knew if I had to hitchhike I was getting back there to see that grand baby! Up on the board when a “Virginia is for Lovers” sign and a bike…reminding me there was more than one way to get there! Lol

Thankfully we were able to fly, and we were even able to take our middle son with us.

It was the trip of a lifetime, and we LOVED every single minute of it! (I’m thinking I need another Virginia sign for this year’s board! Lol)

Goal #9) Work on Getting Healthy! (Notice I did NOT say lose weight!)

A simple word of “health”, stuck to the board, with a sticker of walking footprints did the trick here. I’m not going to tell you I’ve reached this goal 100%! It’s a work in progress…but I am working on it, feel good about the direction I’m heading… and have some major goals for 2018!

Goal #10) GET A NEW CAR FOR THE HUSBAND!

I found a photo of the biggest, baddest, prettiest black truck I could find and posted it to my board. Right up top where I could see it ALL. THE. TIME!

If anyone deserved anything…it was, and will always be, my husband! I think I wanted this goal more than any other goal on my board.

This man has worked two jobs most of our married life! He ALWAYS gave his kids “his car” because “it was safer”… and he always drove the “clunker”! There are not enough words in the human vocabulary to describe how bad this “Clunker” is!

Unfortunately in November the family van decided it throw us a curveball. The transmission began to slip. It would be okay for driving around town, but long distance driving was out of the question. We decided to shelf the “new” truck, and he would take the old van and drive it till it stopped. We would get a new dependable family car!

He’s thrilled to be driving the old family van! (That tells you how BAD the old “clunker” was!) I’m still determined to get him that “dream truck”.

Why do I mention this? Because sometimes we can still obtain a goal even if we have to make adjustments! THAT’S OKAY!

I added other motivational quotes to my board. I wanted it full of energy. Anything I thought would help keep me encouraged.

A FEW LAST TIPS: Be sure to lay everything out first, move it around to fit, and then tack it down! Take quarterly assessments of how you are doing on those goals you have up there! Don’t be afraid to make changes if necessary. Don’t be afraid a goal is too big to accomplish. Just GO FOR IT!

I think hitting 8.5 out of 10 goals is pretty darn AMAZING! I BELIEVE that having my board in clear sight, where I saw it every day, even if I wasn’t consciously thinking about it, made a huge impact on my daily choices, and where I chose to focus my time and energy!

It’s said “That goal not written down is nothing more than a wish!” I don’t want to wish my life away. We all long for that sense of accomplishment! To feel the JOY of knowing we were able to do that which we thought impossible!

I’ll end with my favorite quote on my Vision Board… “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a Good One”!

Have a Happy, Healthy, and Productive 2018! Grasp your Vision and MAKE it HAPPEN!