Like many of you, I set some aspirations at the beginning of the year. And like many of you (I think), I’ve also already run late to almost every appointment I’ve been to and claimed I had NO TIME for the gym through a full mouth of Thin Mints.
If you know my Rabbit Rabbit superstition, you know it would be easy for me to throw in the towel, chalk 2018 up to a failure and wait for January of 2019 to start over. However, I think that Valentine’s Day/Lent/Spring is actually a MUCH better time to begin fresh. The weather is getting better so you’re not tempted to complain from bed until noon every day. Days are longer so you’re not totally defeated when you leave work every day. People want to network, hang out, try new things, the list goes on.
I wanted to share a few things with you that I’m doing to keep momentum going. First, I created a 101 in 1001 goal list. This challenge is widespread in the blog community, and I thought it’d be a much more manageable way to try and attack a “mini-bucket list”. There are a variety of goals and I won’t spend time on them, but if you’re curious about my progress you can view my list here.
Next, I set a “word of the year”- Build. This acts as my basis for my strategy and I try to come back to it with each decision and idea that pops up throughout the year. I wanted to do something fluffier and more positive- “build” sounds like such hard work- but it’s the stage I’m in and I’m really excited about it. (You’ll see the little play on words at the top of my vision board where I found “build” in magazines)
My favorite goal setting exercise of the year is always my vision board. It’s #OprahApproved, and my mom and I usually knock them out together over Christmas/New Years. If you have never tried one, essentially you use magazines or photos to spell out your plan and put positive intentions out into the universe. Many people do them for one specific thing, like romance or a job hunt. I usually make it broad and have been shocked at the results! My favorite tips:
Be creative: My favorite magazines to use are Oprah and Real Simple. They tend to have a wide variety of topics, and they’re aligned with a lot of the goals I find myself setting. However, you often won’t find the perfect word, phrase or image. Feel free to piece together letters to spell something out, check out the advertisements (where I find my best stuff!), and repurpose words. For example, on my board this year “Table of Contents” was trimmed down to become “content”. I’m also a fan of grabbing free magazines from the stands outside the grocery store for career focused or local features.
Be strategic: If you’re familiar with the law of attraction, it is all about positivity. Make sure to avoid words like “don’t” or “stop” and focus on things you want to open, begin or start. I also try to be careful with being too specific, or cutting out an exact place or room in a home or style of something if I’m not sure it’s what I want (again, SUPER stitious). Example here, last year I only made it through half of my vision board. I put tons of things on there about Raleigh, moving, finding a job, but that was all I made it through. That stuff actually happened, I did move and find a job but I put no specifics on whether I wanted to be happy or how I wanted to feel. I ended up being frazzled, displaced, and in a really negative work environment. This year I took time to really spell it all out. I also think it’s important to have a “vibe” if you can- if you want to feel calm, pick pictures that portray that and leave white space. I plan to have a busy, fun, wild, productive year, so my vibe is totally different.
HAVE FUN: I often stress out over what the board will end up looking like once I’m done. It takes me way longer than I need to, when the ultimate goal is to just get it on paper so the universe can start working in my favor. This year I covered the background with large colorful pictures, and layered over top with my intentions and favorite clippings. I’ve had friends make them and only include one or two pictures, some hand wrote or drew, and others were drawn to super abstract images and words. Try to keep your eyes on your own paper!
I’d love to hear if y’all end up trying a vision board this year. I swear it’s the most fun and productive way I get my head right and uncover things I didn’t even know I was hoping for.
Yorumlar