3 Tips for a Better Vision Board

Vision boards are amazing! Let’s start there. They are freaking amazing and after the year we’ve all had, a 2021 vision board is definitely what we all need. I made my first vision board back in 2018 with a group of friends and family having a whole party. I have never been extrinsically motivated. So when I hosted that vision board party it was more about setting goals with people I love and spending time with them than anything else.

That is until I moved through the year and realized things were being ticked off our board (my husband and I did ours together). I also noticed then, people actually charged to help others make theirs. So I thought I would share some tips that help me get the most out of my vision board as more than just another new year’s resolution that will fall by the wayside in mid-January.

1. Add Goals to your vision board

I’ve noticed that a lot of people who share their vision boards create them in the form of a board of positive reinforcements. That’s great, but hear me out. You can add those anywhere. From post-its on your mirror to your workspace and phone/computer lock screen, you can begin practising those immediately. Typically, a vision describes what a person desires to achieve in a space of time.

Therefore, a vision is usually quantify-able, no? You can’t quantify love, faith, strength, etc. So when you check the vision board at the end of the year, whether or not you achieved those things or made any progress towards them is going to be subjective. To measure the achievement of the things on your vision board, why not make them measurable? In fact, this leads me to my next tip.

2. Make Your Vision Board Goals SMART

Yep! Think about it, if the purpose of your vision board is to help you stay focused, motivated and hold yourself accountable, why not make the goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound? By adding SMART goals to your 2021 vision board, it helps you narrow down what you will be working on for a period of time.

If the goals on your board are SMART, this is also helpful when you don’t quite make the target you aimed for, but made some progress toward your goals. This can help you realize that the things you do on your journey to your goals are just as important and worthy of recognition as getting to the final goal post. Specificity, Measurability, Achievability and Relevance of the goals can only help to motivate you, right?

One other thing to consider is that you do not have to redo your vision board every year. Just because you are doing a vision board in 2021, doesn’t mean it automatically has to expire on December 31, 2021. Time-bound doesn’t have to be a year. If you are working on your degree or something like that, there is no reason to limit the board to twelve months. Drop that grad student picture on there and work, baby! Leading into tip number three…

3. Use visuals

I don’t mean words. Cut that car out of the magazine. Paste that money up. Write yourself that mock cheque. I can’t tell you how awesome it was to realize that while I was there beating myself up about not doing enough to have the reminders that I was in fact making slower than I would like, but steady progress on the goals I put up.

Bonus Tip:

Keep it within your line of sight. Don’t tuck it away in the back of a closet somewhere. Look at it, every day. My first board stayed in my living room for a few years. It was a bit of an eyesore but it meant something to me, to us. Only after my husband achieve the most immediate goal (graduating from his postgrad programme) did I remove it. In subsequent years, I did digital boards, and a month in I forgot about them. But that one in my living room was the most motivating of them all.

What about you guys? Have you ever done a vision board? What’s on your board for 2021?

Xo, Shandean

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