Is Your Vision Board a Waste of Time?

Jan 15

Like anything, what you put in is what you’ll get out. It’s a fun process to dream and visually create goals on a piece of paper, but your success is determined by three key factors:

MEANING

Whose goals are you trying to accomplish? Is your energy being applied to making someone else happy, or yourself?

We live in a cluttered, hustle-driven society. We’re trying to keep up, level up, and stay up just to meet our daily demands. But how many of these demands are truly necessary? How many of these demands are a byproduct of you not saying “NO”? Ouch. What if you stripped yourself of the pressures from your peer groups or expectations of society and dug a little deeper to get to know you better? What if your energy was applied to only what served you in a meaningful way?

Answer: You would be more fulfilled.

After jotting down your goals for 2024, ask yourself, “How will my life be better as a result of this?”

Vision Boards can often fail because we invite in meaningless goals and aspirations. Take the time to pause and listen to what you truly want out of life.

ACTION

When there are meaningful goals, you are more likely to take action. Without action, your goal is just a dream. Where we get stuck is assuming all action requires monumental change. It doesn’t. The most powerful action is the smallest change in everyday situations. We become paralyzed at the thought of moving mountains when in reality, all that is required is one small step at a time. To make big changes, simple, small changes, and stacked habits will get you there.

Goal: Lose weight, get toned and feel strong

Action:

Spend 60 minutes each week to plan or prep meals
Swap your soda with sparkling water
Schedule a Focus Meeting (Burn Boot Camp)
Order grilled nuggets instead of fried on your fast food run
Go for a walk when you get home to decompress instead of pouring a glass of wine
Take vitamins and supplements

Goal: Create more quality, meaningful relationships

Action:

Call your best friend on the drive in to work
Say “YES” to the social event that creates an opportunity for you
Lean in and make eye contact; put your phone down
Journal on how it feels to let go of old friends
Introduce yourself first
Give quality, meaningful answers during conversation first
Take inventory of those people in your life who make you feel better
Make a list of 3 people daily to connect with and create space to genuinely check-in
Schedule an appointment with a therapist who can help you heal and forgive

Goal: Create more time for “me”

Action:

Swap 10 minutes of social media scrolling for 10 minutes of meditation
Turn off your phone notifications
Ask for help in doing the dishes
Re-assess your kid’s chore list; can they take on more responsibility so you have less?
Say “NO” to the social event that drains you
Stop checking your phone first thing in the morning - just “be”
Wake up 15 minutes earlier
Set an intention for each day and non-negotiables for “me time”
Communicate with your family what you’re doing and why
Make a list of boundaries

BELIEF

How many dreams have you tucked away because you didn’t feel worthy, or capable of accomplishing them? Maybe you felt stuck in your current situation. You didn’t feel the support, or that you had the means to get there. Maybe you were even a little embarrassed…

These are all ceilings that you are placing above your head. Your current circumstance doesn’t have to be your forever circumstance. Who you surround yourself with, how you save and spend money, the information you consume, and the lifestyle you create can catapult you into new opportunities. But, only you can make those decisions and changes. You must first believe in the opportunities to see them.

This is one reason why visualization works. We crystallize images in our mind before they happen which gives us a preview into the future. Visualization allows us to SEE ourselves succeeding, accomplishing, persevering, and becoming long before we actualize what we want. Visualization gives us the ammunition to take action and know that we can.

We get one life. Create the vision board, but don’t waste the vision board. Make this time work for you in all the ways that leave you feeling fulfilled.