You will fail if you don’t do this.
Last Tuesday I hosted a Vision Board Party online. 68 people logged on. The energy was empowering and electric. These women were raring to go. But we didn’t jump straight to Pinterest or pritt stick. That is actually the penultimate step in my process.
Before I even divulge step 1, I want to clarify why doing a vision board is so powerful. They are ALL OVER instagram, TikTok and YouTube - this week more than ever. In fact TikTok has 56 million views on #visionboard2023 ! How wild is that? More than just an aesthetic #thatgirl craze, there are major benefits.
You know that phrase, ‘don’t let life pass you by’? Every year I am alive seems to go by faster than the one before. The truth is the years are short but the days are long. We get 24 fresh hours every single day. A reset. Are we making the most of them? Well I will argue how can you make the most of them if you don’t know what your priorities are? What matters to you? What is success to you?
Clarity and Intention
Vision boards are about two things. Clarity and intention. You don’t have to make a pretty looking board but I would implore you to take some time to get clear on what it is you want from the next 12 months. You can literally do this at anytime; in fact life often throws such unexpected curve balls that it is beneficial to update one’s vision to accommodate. And your intention is a commitment. It is the investment that you are ready to make in yourself, your life…. your happiness.
Sounds important. It is. But the reason I resist jumping straight into the creation of said vision, ties back into the clarity piece.
These may ebb and flow during different seasons of your life but they will always be a part of you. If you set goals that are in conflict with your values you are literally setting yourself up for failure - even if you accomplish the goal.
An example of aligning values and goals
Here is an example… One of your three core values is ‘family’ and you’re in a season of life where you have young kids. You set your goal to get a promotion (totally valid and respectable aspiration). However this specific promotion your vying for includes much more travel for the job - which would take you away from your family, make you more exhausted when you are home, not as able to be a present partner or parent and thus you’ll feel unsatisfied, disappointment and anything but content.
I would then challenge you to reframe the goal. Could you negotiate creating a different role that includes more responsibility but doesn’t conform to the traditional hierarchy that your company usually follows? It’s certainly worth discussing. Or could you recognise that while the kids are little maybe work isn’t where you get your validation and sense of success from and that will come back next season? For now, could you measure success as being a present, loving, supportive parent and partner who invests into their family?
There is absolutely no right or wrong and there is always nuance! This is just a quick example of how values and goals must be aligned.
Applying values to your relationships
My husband is not someone who would naturally do this type of exercise but before our wedding I asked him if we could decide on our values for our relationship and another set for the family we want to build in the future. We are both ambitious and entrepreneurs at different stages of building our businesses. But we’re both family orientated. His love language is quality time but we’re “busy people”. So it felt important that we get clear and intentional.
The values we set encompass all of that. They empower one another to pursue our individual dreams and they anchor us in our love and familial community. We even asked some married couples we respect for their advice the week of our wedding and in fact, reviewing our values, their words of wisdom are totally aligned with the words we chose for ourselves.
I have them saved in the notes in my phone. I will turn to them when life gets crazy and use them as my north star to return to what is important to us.
I have the same for my relationship with myself. I have values for what I want my life to be founded upon.
I highly recommend that you take the time to work out your values. Whether you take it all the way to a vision board or you simply save the words as the background on your phone I promise you it will improve your intuition, decision making and focus moving forward.
“Values are like fingerprints. Nobodies are the same, but you leave them all over everything you do.”
– Elvis Presley
Getting clear on your values was step 1 in my vision board workshop and it is no coincidence that it is the second exercise of my E-Book ‘The First Step To Manifesting Your Dream Life’. If you’re ready to get clear and intentional then this E-Book will be transformative for you. Scroll down to click straight to the e-book.
And don't forget, if staying accountable and consistent is something you're struggling with, we've got a beautiful growing community waiting to support you. From accountability calls to mega Masterclasses there are so many resources to support you.
