Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everyone! I hope the start of your year has been amazing.
With a new year comes the New Year Resolutions. You see every store selling exercise equipment like crazy. You hear people discussing how they'll finally leave their crappy job of ten years. Your sister says she is determined to organize her hoards of craft supplies. Then after a few weeks the talk dies down and so does the resolution.
Why do resolutions almost always peter out?
Like the concept of time, always changing, or in this case a new year, tends to lead people into believing they to will suddenly change. This, of course, is not true. The notion everything is constantly changing doesn't mean change is going to happen quickly. Breaking habits and changing one's mindset takes time. When people don't see quick results the mindset of failure starts to creep in, and the resolution starts to peter out.
Here's where our word for the day comes swooping in...GOALS. Goals differ from resolutions because they have a set plan. A plan put in place is more likely to be completed than stating an overlying idea.
So let's start the year off creating goals instead of resolutions!
Goals and How to Set Yourself Up for Success
First Steps
Write your goals and bucket list items down. You might have a few or you might have hundreds, but writing them down is the best place to start. This way you won't forget!
I have a journal my cousin gave me for Christmas years ago which I only use for goals and bucket list items. Inside, I have lists upon lists of places I want to go, and things I want to do. It's nice to cross them off once complete.
Some examples include ziplining and traveling to Australia.
Once You Write it Down, Then What?
Easy. You pick a few goals or bucket list items you think you can accomplish within a certain amount of time.
For me, I do this yearly. Meaning, I plan at the end of December then I have until the next December to get them done. I stick to this schedule because I have the most free time during winter breaks to plan. You don't have to stick to the same schedule as me though. Do what's best for you even if that means planning every few weeks or months.
How Many Goals/Bucket List Items Should You Choose?
Now the amount of goals I choose differs each year, and should for you too. The most I've ever done was 17(!) versus the average which is around 5 to 7.
It really depends on other things happening in your life including work, school, family and friends. If you know you're going to have more free time the more you can accomplish.
Don't overload yourself too much though! In the event of wanting to achieve more sometimes tends to give the opposite result.
If this is your first time working on goals, I suggest picking one or two and focusing solely on them. You can build up to more goals over time.
How Will You Accomplish Your Goals?
Break down your goals into smaller steps to create a sense of accomplishment. You will see progress happening over a shorter span of time keeping you motivated! Write out as many steps as possible detailing the date and time those tasks need to be done.
Get a mentor. Find someone who will push you to achieve your hopes and dreams. This can be a friend, family member, or school counselor. Anyone you know who is just as determined as you are in accomplishing your goals. Give them a copy of your detailed plan so they can check-in with you frequently.
Lastly, go out and do it! You can talk and plan until your face turns blue, but until you actually put action to your words nothing will get done.
What Goals Will I Be Accomplishing This Year?
This year I have 7 goals. Mostly related to writing. Even though the concept 'writing' is vague I have a more detailed plan of execution.
For the blog, I plan to post every Monday at 9 am. I planned the next three months out in advance stating the time/day to start writing a post and a time/day to finish to ensure they go up in time.
Another writing goal I have is dream journaling every morning. I usually dream every night. I plan to write the second I get up in the morning so I won't forget. I often have crazy dreams that come true so it will be fun to document them.
How Will I Accomplish My Goals?
Other than my writing goals, I have a few others I will be working on at the same time. But I won't be alone! The past few years I've held goal setting nights where a group of us get together to talk about all our hopes and dreams. From there, we pick mentors for each other to help with our individual goals. It's a fun system especially if you get some competitive people in the group. We even have a group goal. This year's is to go dog sledding!
We do this all while we create our vision boards! Another project I love to work on since I love to craft.
How to Make an Awesome Vision Board
First what is a vision board?
A vision board is a visual representation of one's hopes and dreams. A person tailors the board to their needs to which they can reference occasionally.
What makes a good vision board?
Create a Theme- I usually create an overlying theme around my vision board. For instance, my theme is Dream Big for 2021. In the past, I've had 'Go Big or Go Home', '2020 Vision', and 'Be a Better You'. Having a theme will give you a stepping stone to creating an awesome vision board.
Atheistically Pleasing- Crafting a visually pleasing board will ensure you keep looking at it on frequent basis. This could include nicely written quotes, a color scheme, or unique designs. For mine, I created a cute cloud to go with my theme and added in elements I thought were dream-like.
3D Elements- Having a 3D element jump out from the board is fun and exciting. You will often catch it out of the corner of your eye. An example could be you gluing a Hot Wheels car to you board to represent your goal of wanting to pay off your car. How creative! This year I made butterflies flying out of the pillow fluff cloud.
Interactive- An interactive element ultimately creates a fun game within the board itself as you take away or add things. It keeps you coming back often. I glued wooden stakes to my butterflies so I could easily move them around the cloud.
Make it your own- Creating a vision board that fits your personality will help achieve your goals in the long run. I love to create simply designed crafts. I feel I ultimately achieved that concept in this year's vision board which I absolutely adore!
What supplies will you need?
These are some standard tools and supplies you will need when crafting your vision board.
Scissors
Glue Sticks or Tape
Poster board or Cardboard
A Journal
Pens, Markers, Colored Pencils
Paint
Old Magazines
How much will it cost?
A vision board should be fairly inexpensive. If you are looking for some fun 3D elements I suggest going thrifting or to the Dollar Store to find some cheaply priced items. This year I already owned 95% of the items I needed. In the end, I only had to buy the wood letters and the gold stickers which in total cost around $4.
For those of you who don't have things on hand I would say roughly $15-$20 is a good estimate.
How long will it take you to make?
This honestly depends on if you're creating elements from scratch. This year it took me roughly 4 to 5 hours to get everything done. Gluing, stickering, painting, and cutting out butterflies took a lot longer than expected! Roughly, 1 to 2 hours plus drying time is a good estimate.
What items should you add?
Pictures
Quotes
Stickers
Old movie tickets
Old plane tickets
Glitter
Anything relating to your goals!
What do you do with your Vision board once it's made?
Once your board is done drying the fun part is finding where to put it! Find a spot you will see it everyday.
If your goal is to lose weight then stick your vision board to the fridge as a friendly reminder! If you spend most of your time getting ready in your bedroom hang it on the wall by your mirror. I hung mine in my walk-in closet since I'm in there everyday to get my outfits. It's easy to access when I want to change things out as well.
Congrats on finishing your vision board and creating goals for 2021! Leave a comment stating some of your goals for 2021 along with your vision board theme. If you have any of your own tips to share on achieving goals please feel free to share.
If you liked this post you can also read my last post here.
