Creating A Successful Vision Board for 2021
Get out the Veuve Clicquot (okay more like Andre...who are we kidding), glitter, and streamers y'all -- it's officially 2021!!
While we have much to be thankful for in 2020 in the name of starting Hangover Hoodies and the AMAZING community and customer base that have embraced us, I think we speak for most that are happy to see 2020 on its way out.
Here at Hangover Hoodies, we love a new year.
And yes, we know the classic narrative of "if you want to change your life, why should you wait for the new year? Just start now."
Valid point.
But for us, any chance we get to reflect on our past selves/goals and think about all we want to accomplish in the next 365 days...we'll take.
We have so many exciting things on the horizon this year for Hangover Hoodies. New collections, new items for sale, oh my! Not to mention our personal goals of which include healthy/fitness, finances, improved mental health, etc.
So whatever your goals may be, we'll help you turn those aspirations into reality with...you guessed it...a VISION BOARD!! Okay we know what you're thinking -- cutting out images and glueing them on a $3 styrofoam board from Micheal's Craft Store isn't going to dramatically change my life.
Or so you thought.
We've enlisted the help of Leon Ho, Founder & CEO of Lifehack, to help us make vision boards that actually work. Get out a notebook and a pen ladies and gents, you won't want to miss this. Happy manifesting!
Why Do Vision Boards Fail?
Before you learn how to make a vision board, it’s important to cover why many fail in this area. After all, this method is talked about a lot, and there are lessons to be learned from both success and failure.
Overall, the reason vision boards fail often comes down to your own mindset[1]. For example, say you’re checking Facebook and see some of your friends taking vacations, and you feel that urge to add that to your vision board.
While that’s great, that may not be the best desire for you to have. Even though a vacation is nice, it doesn’t always mean this is what you want out of life.
In other cases, it might be you’re not putting in enough effort to achieve your goals. Or perhaps deep down you don’t think you can achieve what you’re putting on your board in the first place.
These are all similar aspects to setting goals and writing them down. However, that similarity is where you’ll be able to thrive when making a vision board now and in the future.
How to Make a Vision Board
Making a vision board is simple. You’ll need a few materials, as well as a working space to do it. Here is what you’ll need:
A Board
Naturally, this is the first thing you’ll need. This board can take on any shape. Whether it’s a physical board, a cork or poster board, or even a virtual board is up to you.
Craft Items
If you’re not going digital, you’ll need items that allow you to place things on your board. This includes scissors, pins, glue-sticks, tape, etc.
For the more artistic people, you can also get markers and stickers to add some flare to your vision board, too.
Images
You can use magazines if want to cut out images or quotes. For those going digital, you can simply find relevant images online to copy and paste.
Time
You’ll be at this for about an hour or two, so make sure you have space where you can do this with no interruptions.
When it comes to the work environment, any will do. However, it’s smart if you mitigate distractions so set up some calm and relaxing music while working.
Making Vision Boards Work for You
While making a vision board is simple, what really matters is ensuring that it works. If you’re sinking an hour or two into this, you want to make sure that it was worth your time and effort.
With this in mind, I would encourage you to consider these pieces of advice before and after you make a vision board.
1. Think About What You’ve Achieved Recently
The first piece of advice is to consider everything that you have achieved over the past few years. Even though days and years are going by quickly, you’d be surprised what you have achieved over the course of a year.
Make sure you pause and consider what you have accomplished thus far in your life. Remember the things that made you proud.
Going in with this sort of mindset allows you to focus on what you can improve in your life moving forward. That way, you won’t focus on adding desires you’ve seen from other people but rather focusing on your own.
The next piece of advice will add another layer to this.
2. Look at the Direction of Your Life
It’s the dreaded question of “Where do you see yourself in five years?” However, outside of an interview, this is a good question to be asking yourself.
Look at the direction that you’re facing in your life and ask yourself if you are happy with it. This is important because we all have the ability to change our lives. So often we forget that we can gain control of our lives at any time.
Keep in mind that with a vision board, you do not want to be changing goals constantly. However, asking this question can influence how you build your vision board.
Again, you’re putting your own desires and goals on the board rather than letting other actions or opinions seep into your goal-setting.
If you’re not sure how to find the right direction for your life, this article may help.
3. Consider What You Want To Change
Goals should be a stage that fulfills something that we lack in life. Maybe you struggle with moving around much. Or maybe you’ve got a business idea you’ve been sitting on for a long time. From desires to improve your marriage to having more vacations, you want to be looking at what you are lacking and how to make that abundant in your life.
The previous pieces of advice allow you to narrow down precisely what your vision is and what sort of change you want to see in your life.
When paired with this, you can focus on what you really want to change right now in your life.
4. Don’t Overstuff Your Vision Board With Goals
Now that you have an idea of what goals you have, the next thing is turning them into visions. While you may be excited to place all of these goals onto your board, it might not be the best idea.
Unless you are someone who is able to focus on one goal at a time, most people will find the influx of goals to be overwhelming. While we all feel excited about it, a lot of that stems from the dopamine high we’re on.
It’s a feel-good drug, and it’s an addictive one. It also clouds our judgement so much that once reality sinks back in, we tend to feel stressed or overwhelmed.
So while you are making your vision board, try to consider alternatives. Here are some ideas:
- Introduce quotes or phrases that excite you and energize you.
- Consider post-it notes and writing down the steps to take to achieve a particular vision.
- Consider having a smaller board or increasing the size of the pictures you’re posting on the board. This forces you to put fewer things and to focus on the visions that matter more to you.
5. Make Your Visions Emotional
There has been an emphasis on caring about these goals and working on your overall mindset, and it’s there for a reason. When working on goals in any way, there is always a mental component to it.
To place more emphasis on it, you want to make sure that every action you do has emotion attached to it.
After you’ve set up your vision board and are looking it over, it pays to ask some questions to draw those emotions out.
There are many great questions to consider, but one to ask yourself is:
Why do I want to achieve this goal?
The idea with this question is to look for a deep personal reason. Some examples could include:
- You want to spend time with your partner because you love them and recently you’ve been drifting apart.
- You want to lose weight and improve your posture because of back pain.
- You want to build a business because you lacked the ambition to start it when you were younger.
It’s important that you find a reason for why you are working towards this goal. Not only that, but you want to use it as a reminder for your work.
This is so important because it gives us an overall purpose. When you have a purpose, you will begin to care more about the process and to hone your skills.
If you’re looking for some concrete examples for making a vision board, don’t miss this article: 6 Amazing Vision Board Ideas To Help You Achieve Your Goals
The Bottom Line
Vision boards are a large mental exercise that demand deep self-reflection and plenty of emotion. If your heart isn’t it, then it’s likely that a vision board isn’t going to help you much.
It often happens that vision boards slowly devolve into collages and mere artwork. Instead, take this advice to heart and work to develop your own mindset. Once it’s stronger, you’ll find that a vision board can be a very helpful tool for you to achieve your goals.
