In January 2018, I took the time to write a list of resolutions for the upcoming year. I blogged about it and reviewed it halfway through the year. When I did, I could see my progress. I also picked SUCCESS to be my motivating word for 2018. In January 2019, I picked a new word for the current year, and I decided that I would not make a list of resolutions. I chose a different path for 2019.

Little did I know that FEARLESS 2019 would be in effect before January was over. I had to take a step back, after unexpectedly losing my job, to figure out what to do next. It has been a journey of self-discovery and one of trying new things. People lose their jobs every day, so it wasn’t something for me to dwell on. I would turn this into an opportunity rather than a disaster.

First, I made appointments to work on my personal health goals. Other appointments were scheduled to figure out how to use my time more productively while I am unemployed. While doing this, some Facebook groups I am involved with have gotten my interest with something which was new to me. Vision Boards. I thought I would give it a whirl.

The first group is run by a friend I met through social media. The Persistent Entrepreneur Community is always challenging its members to try new tactics to learn how to be a more effective entrepreneur. Bonnie McConaughy does a wonderful job of coming up with tips and tricks to help her group members to be more productive.

As I am finding out with many things, anything I do takes longer to accomplish than I think it will. I spent an afternoon with friends back in 2017 collecting materials from magazines. I didn’t work on the vision board again until 2018. In the summer of 2018, I had a special project at work. I was in charge of decorating a bulletin board to promote wellness and motivate staff. It was a huge task, but it made the thought of completing the vision board way less daunting. For a few months, while I worked on the wellness project, it became another success for 2018.

I used leftover materials from the wellness project to help me create my first vision board. It was a project which coincided with a group activity, online. I missed most of the online event because it happened while I was at a book signing event. #authorlife.

There was a prize for completing the vision board before the deadline. To support my friend, who was running the group and challenge,  I got my creative juices flowing. After all, how hard could it be? I had the materials for the vision board picked out.

I soon learned I had more than enough to work with and tried to make sense of my themes. My first vision board centered on planning a dream vacation to celebrate publishing my first book. Here is what it looks like:

Photo by Tish MacWebber

I have been dreaming of a tropical vacation every winter for as long as I can remember.

This vision board is hanging up on my office wall, where I can see it while I am working. I do not know if I will achieve this goal within a year, but I know that the vision board is a source of inspiration for me. When you look at the big picture, it is a visual representation of your dreams, so you do not lose sight of your goals.

I still have a lot of material left to work with. In another Facebook group, I found another vision board workshop. People in the group would meet in person to create together. It is a local group, which is open to all women. We Define NB  is the name of this group, and it has evolved since I joined it. Now it focuses more on motivation and physical activity.  I am hooked on vision boards and want to use all of my materials. As a creative, I don’t like to waste anything.

I gathered my supplies and found myself in a room with over twenty people, sitting at tables around the perimeter of the room. I had met none of them outside of the Facebook group we were in.  There were snacks with tea, coffee, or water to drink. We did an activity to focus our aim to where we need improvement. It was interesting. I had most of the materials I wanted to use with me. I grabbed a few more magazines and gathered more words and pictures for the project.

Again, I ended up with more than I could use if there would be a specific theme to the board. This time, I wanted to focus on my lack of organization in my home. I collected pictures of furniture, art, and decorating ideas. On the day of the workshop, I didn’t finish. I organized the layout. Since I am a bit of a geek who loves office supplies, I gathered my remaining snippets into page protectors. I had two with me. One was for future vision boards (I told you I am hooked) and the other to finish the current vision board.

I finally made time to finish the second one, on a piece of poster board. It is larger than my first; it will be one of the first things I look at every morning when I wake up. I want to place it where I will see it every day, and I have room on my bedroom wall. It will inspire me to make my home more organized. When I achieve these goals, I can then purchase items to enhance my living space. This will make it feel more inviting to my guests and me.

Here is the second Vision Board:

Photo by Tish MacWebber

What have I learned from these projects?

These are the five steps you can follow to create your own vision board.

1. Choose the background for your vision board. I like to add decorative elements to the surface before I place the pictures and words on the vision board. I enjoy creating them, and I have enough materials to make a few more. It helps to have themes, although they may not be apparent to other people. That’s okay. They are created to help you with your goals, and everyone has different dreams to chase.  I prefer to work on a smaller surface than a full poster board. They take up space while creating and on the wall. If you are only making one, then it would be fine to make it large to hang as art in your office, or where you will see it every day. You could even use a pretty bulletin board if you want a more professional look.
2. Set aside at least an hour to go through magazines and catalogs to find pictures related to your theme. They can be sorted later. Collect your pictures and words. At the group activity, there was a cricut cutter for everyone to use. It is a popular scrapbooking tool for cutting letters and patterns. I didn’t use the cricut cutter, as I had cut out words when I was collecting material.
3. Sort through the pictures and words you have collected. Place them on your background to find the way they fit best together.
4. When you are happy with the layout, get your glue stick, and affix everything in its place.
5. Finally, find a place to hang your work. It should be placed somewhere you can see it often throughout your day.

The glue dots do not seem to have the desired effect after hanging up the first vision board. I was hesitant to use glue sticks, as the paper is thin since it is from magazines and catalogs. It turns out that the glue stick is a better option, as the art seems to stick better when I used the glue sticks.

I did write the book but have not planned the tropical vacation, yet. I have acquired one of the mirrors shown on my second vision board. There is more work to do to prepare my home for any major changes in furniture, artwork, plants, or decoration. The big picture is that I now have a visual concept of what I am aiming for. The final goal is to achieve my dreams while keeping my eyes on the prize.

Another option is to create a digital vision board, to use as a background on your phone, laptop, or computer. I use Canva to create my graphics. There are other programs out there, but the more I use Canva, the more I like it.

If you don’t live in New Brunswick like I do, but you are interested in joining a great motivational health and wellness group for women, I would recommend Growth & Grace. Some of the founders of We Define NB have set this group up for a global community. I enjoy all three groups, and if any of them interest you, check them out. You might find new friends as I did!

How do you stay focused on the big picture without becoming overwhelmed by the details?