Create your Vision Board 🌈

There’s often a lot of pressure around the new year to overhaul one’s diet, get fit, save for retirement, to change jobs or be a better parent. This is why we usually wait until the first or second quarter to create ours. It’s a great time to check in and see what is and what isn’t working in our lives. Plus there’s still time to get clear on what the rest of the year could look like. Let inspiration be the fuel you need as you strive to attain the next level of success.

When did vision boarding begin?

Vision boarding became popular in the early aughts, somewhat in conjunction with the 2007 movie The Secret about the Law of Attraction, but it has roots further back than that. In fact, collage was a popular art form whose composition of parts (photos, newspaper clippings, and pieces of fabric, for example) was often glued onto a surface to create a whole new expression. We started making collages/vision boards back in high school and would clip images and words from magazines that fit goals we had or just plain inspired us.

Beyond inspiration and pretty collection of images, is there a scientific benefit to making vision boards?

In a Forbes article, neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart says, “[if you] look at it daily and visualize it coming true, this tracks images to your sub-conscious and primes your brain to grasp opportunities that may otherwise have passed you by.” The other key part of what she calls an ‘action board’ is taking a small step towards our goal everyday so that “you’ll be transforming abundance thinking into reality.”

What is the purpose and benefit of making a vision board?

An important purpose of vision boarding includes activating the powerful faculties within us: imagination and visualization. Often, part of the educational process (and beyond, into our jobs) strips these skills away from us in favor of recitation and regurgitation of facts and figures. Activate the skills of your brain’s right hemisphere – home of creativity, imagination, and artistic ability – by sparking a bit of creativity and learning how to dream and have a little fun again.

How to vision board effectively

Tools for New Year’s Resolution Success

This weekend I was invited to speak about Staying on Track with your New Year’s Resolutions on Good Day Columbus. It was a blast – you can watch the video here:

Some of the tips we discussed are included below, along with other bonus bites of information:

1. Assess your Motivation for making the change. Is it for a an external event, such as an upcoming wedding you want to lose weight for, or is it for a longer-term, internal goal such as wanting more vitality and better health outcomes.

2. Create S.M.A.R.T. Goals – by making general statements such as “I want to lose weight” or “I want to eat healthier” creates a very nebulous goal which may or may not be reached. When you include the elements of a S.M.A.R.T. plan (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely), your goal takes on more of a true form and is more likely to be effective.

3. Change your Environment – if your environment at home or work feels like a junk-food trap, you’ve realize the need to start cleaning out the pantry and refrigerator or avoiding the vending machine by bringing your own delicious and healthy snack 🙂

4. Planning helps make resolutions fail-proof – I’ve said it before to my clients and I’ll say it again. “If you don’t plan, plan to fail” – because it’s so very true. Nothing knocks a well-meaning person off the resolution wagon faster than either failing to bring in a healthy lunch or pack their gym bag the night before. Planning your meals, setting up a routine for a seamless morning, and having athletic gear for your workout packed will all help create success.

5. BONUS: Enlist Support! In order to use these tips to the best of your ability remember the importance of creating a support system. Whether that’s enlisting the help of family, significant other, group, or a nutritionist & health coach ….you’ll want someone to be there while you’re running a good race, and someone to pick you up after you’ve skinned your knee.