If you google “vision board”, you will learn that it’s a visual tool that’s supposed to help you stay focused on a specific life goal. Personally, I treat it a bit differently. My vision board includes ALL of my 2020 goals. Each is represented by a picture (some by more than one!) that I found appealing and relevant. Each is an “in-your-face” reminder of what I envision for myself this year.
It comes as no surprise that the family takes up the spot of honor on my board. But what else is there? And how to create a vision board of your own?
STEP 1: figure out what do you want to see there.
Before sitting down to create my 2020 vision board, I drew a proper mind map for both personal and professional development (I used my Passion Planner which allowed me to further divide my goals into the short-term and long-term ones. PP mind map is available to download for free HERE).
As a mom of two (that was before Alex was born!), in the “personal” field I’ve decided to focus on self-care (staying fit, reading, taking care of myself, etc. Things that I tended to forget about in the past year…). In the end, a happy mom equals happy kids, and a happy wife is a happy life, no? 😀
Professionally, I’d love to further develop my blog, while also focusing on helping hubby to set up & run his company. Another dream of mine is to be able to do all the work remotely (preferably alone by the pool of a 5* resort, but I’ll agree to other setups too 😀 ).
Stop and think: what would work for you? What’s on your plate this year? Remember, each glance at your vision board should remind you what you’re striving to achieve!
STEP 2: find images that represent your goals.
Shutterstock is a perfect option, if you don’t mind spending quite a significant amount of money on photos – their choice is amazing. At Free For Commercial Use website you can find a number of free images.
Personally, I used images available inside Canva, which was my tool of choice to put everything together. A free version of Canva is unfortunately pretty bare (you can still use it, but most graphics and photos are not available!). They do have, however, a possibility to upgrade to pro for a trial period of one month. You can cancel anytime within the month and not pay anything. 🙂
STEP 3: get to work!
As I’ve mentioned above, Canva is a perfect tool to create a gorgeous vision board, and I strongly recommend the pro version.
I started by creating a new design and setting the dimensions to A3, horizontal. Next, I placed my 2020 “One little word” (see explained below!) in the middle and then worked around it. All photos (except the family one) and art elements used are from Canva itself. Simply drag and drop them from the library to your design, and resize them to achieve the result you’re after.
As the last step, I’ve changed the background color. Voila! Ready to be printed and hanged on your wall / fridge / wherever else you want it to be.
So what’s the deal with “One little word”?
OLW is a concept about which I’ve been hearing for a really long time, but couldn’t bring myself to actually try to incorporate it into my own life. This year, I’ve finally decided that I’m ready and that I really DO need this word to follow through with my plans and goals.
The idea of “One little word” was created back in 2006 by designer & blogger, Ali Edwards. The purpose of it is to choose a word that will become your focus, your companion and your guide for the whole year. Some people need to think really hard to find the perfect word, while for some it just pops in their heads and stays there. I would normally put myself in the first box, but my word for 2020 came to me so swiftly and naturally that it left my obsessively-planning-everything self in a state of a minor shock.
CONSISTENCY. How appropriate. The reason why so many of my plans in 2019 fell through. I lacked it, to the point of my absolute frustration. No matter what goals I set for myself, I just could not follow through. Combined with everything that is currently residing on my vision board, this word makes perfect sense.
You might think “what’s a big deal? It’s just a word!”. And it is. But words do have power and they can change you. 🙂 You will hopefully see it evolving from “just a word” to becoming a part of your daily life. Still unsure whether the word will catch on? Make it visible! Placing it in the middle of your vision board is a perfect example. You will see your word in relation to everything that you’re striving to achieve. Not sure about the vision board? Print the word in some nice font and frame it! Have it printed on a mug or a gadget! Have your husband shout it out to you every morning. 😀
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— Bullet Journal or Passion Planner? My Planning in 2020.
— Best and Worst Bullet Journal Travel Spreads.
— 5 Lifestyle Bloggers Who Inspire Me.