Forget Resolutions – Try a Vision Board

I’m not against New Year’s Resolutions; I like the idea of them. They’re about reflecting on your life and intentionally thinking of areas where you can improve, do better, or be better. I love that! But, if you’ve never made a vision board, you may want to try it.

Why is a vision board better? I’ll give you three reasons, (and tell you what happened when I created one in preparation for 2018).

1)    Resolutions don’t always stick

We’ve all been there: resolving with grand plans to live differently, but as soon as we’ve “fallen off the wagon” or “blown it,” the resolution goes by the wayside. If it wasn’t sustainable, or it only lasted a few weeks – or even just a few days – into January, it wasn’t very helpful.

Before December, 2017, I had only created a vision board once. It was at a financial seminar about retirement planning. During the seminar, all the attendees, me included, created our own vision boards illustrating our ideal retirement. We were asked to think about how we’d spend our time, where we’d be, who would be with us, and how much money we’d need to achieve those goals or live that way.

I enjoyed the exercise. It forced all of us to think about what we really wanted, digging deep into our personal desires and dreams. It also forced us to articulate in words or pictures what those dreams looked like, which was helpful. We could then begin working towards them – through additional savings and investments, by making more money, or spending less. Further, we could discuss the articulated goals with our significant others or spouses. This helped to ensure we were on the same page and working towards the same vision for our future.

After doing it once and seeing the value in it, I decided to give it another try to articulate my goals as the new year (2018) approached. 

Continue reading 3 Reasons a Vision Board is Better Than a Resolution →