New Year, New Vision Board
My Vision Board 2021
You might have missed last year’s vision board and I’m linking that blog post so you can check it out. But, it was the very first time I used CANVA, my favorite design platform/program, to create all my graphics (and a book cover, for that matter that I hope you will see soon,) but I had so much fun creating that beautiful vision board that I used Canva again for 2021.
However you feel, shared or private, please know that this is between you and God, or the universe, whichever you identify with. But it’s a very personal and individualized thing. You don’t have to share, you don’t have to talk about it at all. It’s just yours. Why I do it is simple in that I find it helpful to just think about how I’d like my life to be and honestly, for me they have worked! I mean what more reason do we need. I thought I’d take just a little bit of time to address some FAQ’s about vision board and also remind you that the vision is not enough alone. I also do goals/resolutions and try to complete daily tasks that will help me get to the vision. All of these things, for me, work together so it’s a multipronged process.
How long have you been doing vision boards?
I have had vision boards for a very long time -at least 5-8 years. I will say that with the introduction of Canva, I’m more committed to doing it, where previously they haven’t been completed the way I want or haven’t looked like I wanted them to. Canva makes finding pictures and the things you need so much more convenient in that with the magazine version there just isn’t enough pics that you need and then that makes the process difficult and undesirable. You don’t want anything to deter you from the process or you’ll throw in the towel.
What other programs can I use?
Okay CANVA’s not doing it for you, I understand. I was so excited to recently attended a fellow author’s Vision Board party on New Year’s Eve, and that was such and informative and fun 90 or so minutes. I was astounded by the attendees who put in ALL sorts of other programs that they have used or are using to complete their vision board. Goodnotes was just one of the platforms mentioned, and for me it’s likely best on an IPad or other tablet, I don’t recommend most of the suggestions however, on your phone. Some people love working on their phone, and I just don’t. I need room and I like to see all the options. Also if you are going to work on your phone or tablet, you NEED a stylus or Apple Pencil and these things can get pricey. So the list below is just some places to get you started. Keep in mind that you should know what ways you like to work. I LOVE my desktop so anything that I would use, must not be available in App form only but usable on the Desktop or Laptop, and you don’t want to purchase any device just for this project if you have no plans to use it beyond this. This may or may not be a consideration for you too.
Canva (need inspiration search the templates)
Evernote
Goodnotes
Google Docs
Google Keynote
Illustrator
Indesign
Microsoft Word or Publisher if it’s still accessible
Notion
Pages (Mac)
Paintbrush
Pexels
Photo Collage
Picabay
PicMonkey
Scrivener – while no one has ever suggested this that I’ve heard, and it only came to me as I wrote this post, literally at the end of editing/revising for the 19th time, the writer in me says the Cork Board (the only reason I wanted so desperately to learn Scrivener, but didn’t) could be an option to create your Vision Board. You can import pictures just as you would from the photo apps and other platforms I’ve mentioned like Pinterest.
Unsplash
Yearbook
Be sure to check lots of other photo collage apps for example that you might already be using for your social media posts. Low Tech is back to the magazines, glue and scissors and poster board which you can get at Dollar Tree
You could also use a cork board and just pin items on a bulletin board that you can see everyday.
One more thing to keep in mind, the reason I would lean toward any platform over the other is going to come down to the access to pictures. That is going to be your number one thing. In some of the platforms, you’ll have a ton of pictures and can search what you’re looking for with one word, and others there are no pictures, you’ll either be clipping them from the Internet or maybe you have enough that you’ve taken in your own repository. Either way all good.
What if the entire process is overwhelming?
I get it, some folks have a hard time with this very visual project at the end of the day. My three possible solutions (and I’m sure there are more, but these are my top three) are to:
Write it out – forget the pictures altogether (or use them less sparingly) and come up with a series of affirming statements, I look forward __________ (quiet, calm, abundance) in my life and that means, more quiet time, letting go of stressors (then maybe list them) and deep connected relationships with (list them) ____________ in my life.
Completing this by writing it out, you can read these daily and I personally have some affirmations that
I’ve recorded in my own voice and I try to listen to them daily.
Focus on how you want to feel and do a word collage – a woman in a bathtub with candles all around and bubbles brings about a sense of calm. In fact if you do the written exercise above first, you can usually get to your pictures ideas so it can be a way to help you generate the pictures you need if you could not originally think of them.
Finally, if the picture version is not for you, set a list of intentions or go back to the goals and resolutions only. For myself as I mentioned I love the goals, and I write them in 7 areas, that’s:
- Career 1
- Career 2 (this is if you have a side hustle pursuit in addition to your regular job)
- Health and Wellness
- Financial
- Education
- Leisure
- Recreational, and Spiritual
Write what you intend for these areas or come up with your own categories.
Finally don’t get too listy. Under each of the areas above, I list no more than 3 (sometimes 5 but that’s really too much) goals for each and try to also come with the action steps for each one because you’re really not doing too much without the more detailed actionable steps to guide you to achieving the goal.
Ultimately, this is all about simply gaining clarity about what you want to do, what you want in your life and where you want to go, nothing more and I feel when I DON’T this, I repeat mistakes that I knew last year I didn’t want to do, I have no focus, no direction at all and am all over the place. So for me it’s about a kind of grounding that needs to happen and I set my intention for things to go. Yes, you can get off kilter but you have ways to reign yourself in, to recent yourself.
Happy Vision Boarding. Put comments in the questions or just email or DM me some time if you have questions about my process and how to get started.
Here’s a picture of my 2021 Vision Board and it includes my word for the year.
What do I do after creating this?
That’s a great question that I teeter back and forth about. Everyone says to put it where you can see it everyday. That is great, logical advice, I mean why create it if you are not going to look at it. But I with the thought that it’s okay to put away for a month or two and to NOT look at it every single day.
Remember though, I have the goals and action items. So whatever I put on my vision board, I’m keeping the goals to help me reach that.
The only reason for not looking at it daily is simply there is an air of surprise. Having it out every single day is almost like an undue pressure to make it happen, make it happen, make it happen and that for me, maybe you too, can get on your nerves and you can feel like you’re not making the appropriate progress to your vision. So, i have put my vision away and been amazed and surprised at how things unfolded. It’s NEVER how you imagine or how you think it might occur and sometimes yes, it’s altered completely but it’s still realized and that’s the goal. So try looking at it every day if that doesn’t seem to do the trick, please put it away, put it out later. The most important aspect for me, is putting it out there! Universe, God, hello, this is my intention, this is what I want, now I appreciate and I thank you for what I know you will do. (If it’s your will). All good. Move on with life and see it all unfold. Now get going. Make it great!!
