Weekly Happiness Note December 26, 2024

Start the New Year with Creativity – The Art of Vision Boards

Dec 26, 2024

∙ Paid

"Having a roadmap that points toward your dreams is the first step to reaching them."

Happy Thursday! 🌞

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This Week’s Featured Topic:

Start the New Year With Creativity – The Art of Vision Boards

We are nearing the time of year when we become inundated with terms like goals, resolutions, self-transformation, etc. The start of a new year gives people hope and a bit of extra motivation. This motivation can be used to get moving or continue to improve areas of life that are personally important and meaningful.

Too often, we start out of the gate, full of energy and optimism. And then, after a few weeks, those big hopes, plans, and dreams fade. Perhaps the new habits didn’t stick, or unforeseeable obstacles got in the way. After a couple of months, our shiny plans and ideas can become buried entirely — only to be uncovered again at the start of the following year.

One way I help combat this vicious cycle of dream obstruction is to create a vision board. I fill the vision board with colorful images and reminders of my clear goals, which I will work toward over the next year.

Having a plan or road map that points in the general direction we most want to go is the first step to getting there. I first learned about the art of creating a mind map or vision board at university. It is probably the most important tool I still use, which I took away from my education.

For anyone unfamiliar with vision boards, they are basically detailed plans of your goals that utilize your creativity. You can make one on a large poster board or in a journal. I have also seen them created with animation or other forms of technology. The plan being mapped out could be for a particular project or venture. It could even be a plan for the bigger picture of your hopes for the future.

I create a new one every January 1st to set my goals and steps for the year ahead.

Putting pen to paper and engaging our creative senses is an essential step towards actualizing our dreams.

When I make my vision boards, I love to use affirmations and bold statements with personal meaning. These words are powerful because they remind me of what I have said that is most important to me. I also add meaningful images and scenes that may look like nothing more than magazine cutouts — but to me, they draw a distinct picture of where I am headed. These images and words are a product of my forward thinking.

Now comes the important part: I display my vision board where I can see my goals regularly. I commit to doing something each day to reach these goals, which are always small, manageable steps.

The best part of mapping a clear vision is that it creates awareness of your deepest desires. When opportunities arise that align with these dreams, it becomes much easier to recognize them and seize them.

Having your vision board displayed where you see it regularly is powerful. It has always helped me move past that three-week hurdle and every other obstacle that comes up throughout the year. The road to reaching our dreams and goals is usually bumpy, and there will be stopping places. Having that visual reminder where I can see it has always encouraged me to hit the ‘restart’ button to keep moving forward. Moving forward is a better alternative than completely throwing in the towel when setbacks occur.

It is an incredible feeling to begin with a thought, turn it into a goal, and one day realize you have achieved what you once only thought about.

As you embark on yet another new year, see what happens when you carve out some creative time to craft a vision board that is personally meaningful, realistic, and aligned with your goals for the year ahead. As you dive into the creative process, imagine what it will feel like at the end of the year to have either achieved these goals or to be in the process of reaching them. Being in process is what it is all about. This year will come and go, putting one foot in front of the other will be sure to move you beyond where you stand this very moment.

Have fun with it, and all the best for an aligned year ahead!

❤ Emily