Vision boards help so many of us find the inspiration and motivation that we need to focus on and accomplish our annual goals. As I have said before, I choose to skip the lengthy list of New Year's Resolutions each year (sort of) and, instead, focus on one word (or theme) of the year. In 2016, my first word of the year was Risk. In 2020, I chose Grow as my 2020 word of the year. This year, in 2021, I have chosen Peace as my word of the year. No matter the year or the chosen word or theme--I think there is always a second word required every year for every one of us: Action. To achieve our life goals (or our resolutions)--we must take action and work toward each large goal in smaller, focused steps. 2020 was a rough year on so many levels--and I certainly did not thrive toward my dreams--but, I am quite ready to take action and create some peace, balance and stability in my world in 2021!
I was introduced to the concept of a vision board many years ago--and I do
find that creating a vision board is very inspiring as I look toward the new year. Unfortunately, my vision board shows me
only end-results--it doesn't do much to help me reach those big, visual ideas. In 2016, I began putting my yearly goals and visions into action, literally, and created weekly action boards
to allow me to set a week's worth of small, do-able, positive changes
into motion to achieve those big, vague goals pictured on my vision board.
What
are a few of my tips for creating do-able weekly action boards from my vision board?
Begin by Creating your Vision Board of Goals. To achieve your goals (or New Year's Resolutions) for the year or the month or your life in general, you must first identify those goals! I do think a vision board is a great way to identify your goals visually. Seeing all of your goals in one group does motivate and excite you to try to achieve them!
Let me show you my current Vision Board for 2021
Your own goals may be very similar to my goals--or very different. So many of us seek to live healthier, happier lives, spend more time with family, create stronger relationships, lose weight, earn more money, and create stronger businesses. Whatever your large goals are--write them down, create pictures for them and turn them into a visual, motivating collage.
You have a Vision--But, Now What do You Do?
Take a Step Back and Really Look at that Vision Board.
How do you reach those big, vague goals?
Vagueness is, in my opinion, where vision boards crash, resolutions fail, and the depression and blahs set in! Deep down, I do really want to achieve those visual goals on my vision board. I do.
But--the distance between where I am at this moment in each of those areas and those final, beautiful goal images on my vision board some days just seem too far out of reach.
It's Time for an Action Board.
What Small Actions can You Take to Work Toward your Big Vision Board Goals?
Then--I needed to break down that (still too large) January goal list into a weekly action board.
Working from the "big picture" goals down to a monthly goal and then breaking those monthly goals further down to a weekly plan of action helps me stay focused on short term goals, one at a time, as I make the many (sometimes many, many, many) small steps toward those "big pictures."
I look at each one of my long term goals and ask myself a tough question:
"What can I do this week to help me reach that goal--or a group of my goals?"
Now. It's time to Brainstorm--and Create an Action Board that Multitasks.
You will find that many of your goals for the year are related. In fact, with planning, you can work toward many of your goals at the same time.
For example, I know that I want to eat better, spend more quality time with my family and my husband, check some items off my bucket list, and find me-time to relax this year. I also want to give back to the community, grow our family's businesses, get more organized, tackle some home improvement projects, become more mindful, and practice some green living.
Well. That still seems overwhelming from the vague "big picture."
In 2017, when I created my first weekly action boards, I didn't create a completely effective action board each week. My action board tasks in 2017 were often still too vague to be actually useful to me. Stating that I was going to "spend more time with the kids" during a given week or "Choose a Weekly Home Improvement Project" was no more useful, in reality, than posting a "More Family Time" or "Improve the House" vision photo.
How was I going to do this action?
When was I going
to do that action?
In 2018, I began to create more specific weekly actions. My weekly plans became more focused, more detailed--and better planned so that each activity was working toward more than one of my year's goals.
Well. That STILL seems overwhelming from the "big picture," doesn't it?
Accomplishing goals requires planning and often requires actual scheduling on the calendar and the to-do list! Now that we know what we want to achieve in 2020--we need to pick some steps (some actions) from each spot on our vision board to reach our goals and schedule those tasks on the weekly calendar and the daily to-do list! It is a do-able task. It just really requires that you break down your actions into single tasks--and maybe break what you think is a single task down further to even smaller, single tasks as you set your week's action board schedule into motion!
Schedule a dinner/movie date night.
Get a card/ gift card for donating.
If I see my action list frequently throughout the day, I am more likely to complete my action tasks. If I write my actions down in a journal and close the book--I may not remember to tackle a job until it's too late in the day.
Update your Action Board on Schedule. If you plan to accomplish weekly actions toward your goals--don't let the action board set unchanged for a month! Reevaluate that week's activities at the end of the week. What worked? What was unreasonable? Perhaps one of your actions was too generic to be effective. Suppose my action, "Schedule a Weekend Outing as a Family for Saturday," wasn't successful. Next week, I should change it to something more specific like, "Schedule a weekend outing to The Columbus Zoo for Saturday" or "Choose three local parks to visit for a family hike," and try it again next week!
It is possible to create a successful action board to accomplish your vision board goals--you need to take it one, active step at a time!
I am planning to post an update of my progress with this week's actions and share next week's action board with you all too!
Good luck with your own goals in 2021!
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