How to have a perfect relationship with your vision board.
Even without the motivation
At some point in our lives, some of us become that kind of person who wants to be disciplined and achieve some level of success. Many life and business coaches would say you need to set goals and have a vision board to do this.
A vision board is like a roadmap that you create about what you want to achieve, what steps you need to take, and how you visualize your steps throughout the process and even after. It’s therefore futuristic, and a major feature of any vision board is your goals. You need to clearly state what you want to achieve and how you’re going to do it.
Well, I and my vision board are frienemies. At the beginning of a year or new month, I take a look at it with so much promise and I get goose bumps imagining all the wonderful things I want to achieve in that period. But after a while, I begin to distance myself from it.
I don’t drink the water I should, or exercise the way I planned, or read the books I’m supposed to. As time goes on, it begins to feel like life is just dragging me along a tiring path and I’m forced to forget about those ‘lofty’ dreams. They feel lofty now because the normal happenings of life will always drown and disconnect you from your clear visions of the future.
It happened to me this past February. I felt the days dragging by when I was supposed to create content but I didn’t, supposed to edit videos and I didn’t, supposed to act towards my future goals, but all I could do was feel helpless. I would feel so disconnected from my vision board, and then I would suddenly want to come back and finish every project I had run away from for so long.
I recently had to make a conscious decision that no matter how horrible I feel about skipping work and letting it pile up, I would always come back to it.
And in today’s article, I’m going to be sharing with you what I learned from hands on practice that will help you have a better relationship with your vision board.
1. Take the needed rest then go back.
I don’t know what you promised to do for yourself this year, but this was my promise: I decided that when I felt tired of working or pursuing my goals (especially when things get so difficult), that I would take the rest I need, and get back to work immediately. And yes, we are humans, so some days we just climb onto the lazy jet and ride off on it for as long as whenever. And then we realize so late that the work has piled up over our heads, and we become too discouraged to continue.
Hey, nobody said you shouldn’t take a break. But since you know that you have to get back on track eventually, then try to do so as early as you can. Promise yourself that as soon as you realize that you’ve gone off track, you will pull yourself back in the right direction again. And no, don’t beat yourself up about it. That only takes up more of your precious time.
2. Look at your vision board weekly
You should have a fixed time of the week where you get to take a critical look at your vision board. Maybe some people look at it every day, but I personally think that’s not necessary. I take a look at mine every Saturday by 7pm, and first of all, I check how many of the planned activities for the week I actually did. Then I look at what objectives are left for the month, and also take a recap of my annual goals. This just helps to give me a sense of direction about why I’m doing those hard tasks and to remind myself of how they are going to benefit me in the end.
3. Adjust things that are not working, but not too quickly
So, there are times when you feel like certain tasks aren’t just for you anymore. Last year, I struggled with trying to jog every single Saturday. Most Saturday mornings, I would wake up late and prefer to start cleaning or do an indoor workout instead. So I had to ask myself if outdoor jogging was absolutely necessary for my fitness goals. And for me it wasn’t, because I was putting in cardio by playing sports during the week. And I was doing HIIT like four times a week.
I had to stop because it wasn’t working for me, and I found that replacing it with HIIT on Saturdays made me more willing to do the work out and get to my end fitness goal.
Note that I said not too quickly, because not everything is supposed to be so pleasant when you start. In fact, some things never get easier, like having to take a cold shower by 6:00 every day. But I can’t replace that with anything else, because I have to take a shower to feel ready to work. So, if a task is absolutely necessary for you to reach your goal, then don’t replace it. If you find yourself skipping it every week, then force yourself to do it, whether you like it or not.
4. If it’s causing too much stress, maybe you should just stop
I see this as an option when you just know that you want to stop an activity or task entirely. Personally, I used to sew clothes, for myself though. I already had a job as a junior lecturer, and I was operating a business where I made and sold casual footwear. It was a lot to handle, and the sewing was just a hobby that wasn’t earning me any money. I had to erase it off my weekly task list because I just couldn’t do it anymore. I needed more time for the jobs that were earning me money, so sewing just had to go.
It could be hard to let go of something especially when it’s an activity that you really love, but you also have to be practical. You wouldn’t be in a stable environment to do that task if you didn’t have those jobs that are earning you money. So, if you need more time to focus on those jobs properly, or you just need more time for rest, then you have to cross something off. Cross off wisely, though.
5. Set grounded goals
The kind of goals you set at the beginning of the year, month or whenever is the number one determinant of your relationship with your vision board.
Set SMART Goals- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound Goals.
Don’t say: I want to make more money in 2021. Say: I want to earn N50,000 monthly from writing/whatever new job. And don’t say: I want to make N1millopn in 2021 when you were making N300,000 in 2020. The jump is too far. Instead, aim for 500,000 or 600,000. You should still put in the effort to exceed this milestone if you can.
In summary, make your goals as achievable as possible, so that you will have no excuses when you don’t achieve them. Your goals should be unique to you, and should be something you really want to achieve, not because other people are doing it.
In the end, you’re the only one that will face the difficulties encountered while achieving those goals. No one else will do it for you, so you should have concrete reasons to keep pushing when things get difficult.
From now on, I expect that you look at your vision board on 18th May, 2021 with the same promise and excitement as you did on January 1st, 2021.
Thanks for reading!
