Throw out the Resolutions; Make a Vision Board Instead!

The New Year is finally here! Now what? Are you a person who likes to make “New Years Resolutions?” Well, let me tell break this to you: more than 50% of the American people drop their resolutions before the end of January.

My suggestion? Make a vision board based upon your personal new year goals instead!

Right before or after New Years Eve (sometimes both), I always reflect upon the previous year. What trips have I (we) taken, what have I accomplished personally and as a family, what goals did I reach (or not), and what challenges did I overcome in the past year. I also set goals for the new year. What do I want to accomplish in the new year (2024)? I use several categories/areas of my life to set goals in: travel, entertainment/fun, work, family life, personal health/wellness, and more. Once I set my goals, I take several old magazines and look through images of what could represent these goals in pictures. This year, I involved my 4 year old in the process, and it was lots of fun.

Not sure where to start with goal setting? Start with smaller, short-term goals (usually about less than 12 months out). Once you have those, you can make some long-term ones (a year or longer out).

Sometimes I am not sure what that is supposed to look like, but for example: say your goal is to read 12 fiction books by the end of the year. Then your smaller goal could be to read 1 fiction book a month. Goals are also not fixed, set-in-stone. They can vary / change, especially the long-term ones. Visit your goals every once in a while to make sure they are still “up to date.”

In order to achieve your goal, it helps to use the SMART acronym:

Specific – Let’s make sure our goals are specific enough; the specific in the book example would be “fiction book,” since that is not it is more specific than just “book” in general.

Measurable – How will you measure the outcome of the goal? In our fiction book example, the “measure” is 12.

Achievable/Attainable – If you only read 1 book last year, the goal of 12 may not be attainable to you. But if you read maybe 8-12, it could potentially be attainable for you. Just be realistic.

Relevant – Does the goal even apply to you? If you are not a book reader, the book goal would not be relevant.

Time-bound – When will you achieve the goal by? Make sure the timeline is realistic. In our example, the time-bound piece would be “by the end of the year” or “(1 book) a month”.

Once I had my goals for the year set, I started making my vision board. The way I represented the book goal on my vision board was obviously with a bookshelf / picture of books.

I try making a vision board every year, and they look quite different every year. It is fun to look at previous ones and see how you have changed/grown over the years. There is really no right or wrong way of making a vision board. Some people use only words, some people use pictures, and some people use arts. I use magazine or printed images, but many people will even make a digital vision board! There are millions of ideas for these vision boards out there. I would start with what most appeals to you; it does not have to be complicated. Once you make it, print it (or glue it), and hang it up in a visible space! There you go – your NEW YEAR vision!