Happy New Year- What's your Vision?

Welcome to the New Year! Are you ready for the year ahead? Do you have plans and goals? I know I do, but it’s so hard to remain focused on them isn’t it? We start out well but then things just get in the way, and we can become distracted. It’s as if we need a constant reminder…

I am grateful that some years ago (quite a few now in fact!) I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the concept of a vision board. I have used this method ever since to help me remain focused. For those of you who are unaware, a vision board (or dream board) is a collage of pictures, images and affirmations that are significant to you depicting the life you want to create and goals you want to achieve. It is a great visual reminder of all the exciting plans you have and how you want your life to look. You can prepare them for the long-term or the short-term. You can also use them for individual projects, to focus in on the detail or simply view on a broader scale.

I have found vision boards to be great fun to create (and I am most definitely not a creative person). Once ready they act as a great visual reminder of your aspirations. Although New Year's Eve is a great time to do your vision board, you can prepare it at any time of year. We do ours as a family. Now I’m not going to lie to you here, this takes a great deal of patience and a good degree of self-control in making sure that younger family members don’t simply turn it into a ‘stuff I want to buy’ exercise. So be prepared to keep reminding them that is not what the exercise is about. I tend to say think about the following three things:

·       What do I want my life to be like?

·       Who do I want to be?

·       What do I want to do?

When doing this with your children, you may need to simplify it for them. We usually get some imaginative boards with lots of pictures on and find that once you all get going it gets easier. I find this a great way to start talking about goals and visions with children as they appreciate the visual aspect, and younger ones always love cutting and sticking!  There are also programs online that you can use to create the dream board for you if you prefer. Once complete, put in a place where you can see it every day and be reminded of your direction.

I find vision boards are a really important tool for the Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) aspect of our healthy habits too!

If you would like further help with vision boards and how to use them, please do message us.