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Sunday, December 27, 2015

2016 Goals: Make A Vision Board

A vision board is a visual representation of your goals in a collage form. It's something you can look at every day to remind you of the things that you are working towards. It is also something that you can look back on at the end of the year and measure your progress. Or you can look back at unachieved goals and identify barriers, road blocks, or changes that left those goals unfulfilled. What I love best about vision boards is that they are unique and creative and no two look the same even if two people have similar goals. I am a creative person, I love doing artsy-type projects. The more glitter, ribbon, and flair the better! But even if you are not creative or "flashy" you can still make a vision board that reflects your goals. 


Making A Vision Board

1. Gather Your Supplies
The first things you're going to want to do is get together the things you need for your vision board. It can be as much or as little as you want. But here are some basics:
  • Poster Board
  • Scissors
  • Magazines
  • Glue/Tape
  • Markers
If you want to take it up a step here are some other things you can use
  • Ribbon
  • Tool
  • Stickers
  • Glitter
  • Stick on letters
  • Decorative Tape
  • Hot Glue Gun
And I'm sure there are even more you can think of.  
2. Identify Your Goals
You can go through your magazines and haphazardly become inspired by the pictures but I think it's better to have an idea of what direction you want to go in before you start looking. The idea can be as general or specific as you want. For example you can say "I want to be healthier" or "I want to lose 15 pounds." Once you have an idea of the goal(s) you want to display on your vision board you can move on to the next step.
3. Look for Pictures
Now that you know the direction you're going in you can start to look for pictures that represent those goals. Notice I said represent. The pictures you select don't have to literally and word for word match your goals; what is most important is the meaning that they have to you. For example, on my vision board above there is a picture of a beautiful natural haired woman that I pulled from an ad for hair products (that picture actually got cut off of the picture above-sorry). To me that picture doesn't represent me wearing my hair natural, it represents me being comfortable in who God made me to be, naturally. Every picture is subject to interpretation but it's your vision board and all that matters is that you know what each image means to you.
4. Putting It All Together
This is the fun part! Taking all of your pictures and all of your supplies and creating your masterpiece. It can be a simple or as intricate as you want it to be. You can randomly stick the pictures on or you can plan out your layout. In my vision board I broke my goals into four specific categories and grouped my pictures in those categories. FUN FACT: One of my goals was to create a blog! 
5. Display It
This may be the most important step of them all. Once your vision board is completed you want to hang it up somewhere where you can see it every day. I think the best place to hang it is in your bedroom so that when you wake up you can look at it. If you do morning devotion you may want to put it in the space where you do that or you may want to put it by your mirror so that you can look at it while you get ready to start your day. Over time the images will be burned into your brain so that even when you aren't looking at your vision board you will be reflecting on your goals.

Make it fun!!!
Have a vision board party. Invite your girlfriends over and have the supplies laying out, play some music, and get to work. Or incorporate making a vision board into your end of the year holiday family festivities. Newlyweds can make a vision board to identify goals for their new life together. Families can also create a collaborative vision board for the household. Creating vision boards is a great activity for groups of teens and can be very helpful for new businesses. There are also websites that can help you create digital vision boards. 

I am a strong believer in the power of visualization. Having something you can look at every day is a big motivator to help you achieve your goals. AND once you've looked at your board for a while you don't even have to see it to remember your goals. Case and Point: When I moved it was hard to get my vision board to stick to my walls but I had looked at it so much I didn't even need to see the actual product to know what was on it. 

Are you planning on doing a vision board for 2016? How do maintain the goals set on January 1st  throughout the year? Leave a comment and let me know and Happy New Year to everyone.

"Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it delays, wait for it; it surely will come , it will not delay" Habakkuk 2:2-3  (MEV)   






Sunday, December 13, 2015

Family Matters: Remember The Time

Family Matters posts address all things family, the good, the bad, and the ugly. All topics related to families and how families interact will be labeled "Family Matters."




Jingling bells, caroling, lights, and cheer. Just a few things that characterize this holiday season. Or how about these? Waiting for hours in the check out line, fighting to get the "last one," or being ungrateful because the gift under the tree doesn't match the one that was asked for. Just a few more things that have come to define this holiday season.

We currently live in the day and age of the "right now." We want what we want when we want it and we want it now. The young generation feels entitled, deserving of everything they want; and even worse many parents feel obligated to meet this incredulous demand. We live in a day and age where we value things over each other. We spend 10 seconds gathering with our family to take a picture and the next 10 hours posting that picture, looking at everyone else's pictures, and leaving comments. We want the biggest, the best, and the newest and when we get it we isolate ourselves from others so that we can "enjoy it." 

It breaks my heart to see what the "holiday season" has come to. I became a family therapist because I am passionate about families. I get energized from seeing families happy, healthy, and whole; but in this season we are more isolated, separated, and divided than ever. Instead of sharing in the joy of the season and enjoying each other's company; we take for granted the blessing that is right there in the house with us. Some of my best childhood memories are from the holiday season. I have two very hardworking parents and when we were younger my dad worked a lot. During Christmas Time my dad always took his vacation from work, while us kids were off from school and my mom was a teacher so she was always on break with us. Christmas time always bought out the best in our family. Time off has us more relaxed, less hectic schedules gave us the opportunity to spend more time together. There were more laughs and jokes and less stress and hostility. The older I got the more I realized that in order to truly enjoy Christmas it's important to stop focusing on the gifts and Remember the time.

Remember that time will come and time will go so it's important to make the best of it. We never know what tomorrow will bring so it's important to value what we have while it's here. Remember the people, the people who are important in our lives, the people who we can't live without. Remember to set aside quality time with these people to build and strengthen the relationships and create long lasting memories. Remember that each season the newest electronic "thing" comes out claiming to be better than the one before and soon the "hottest thing" is long forgotten. But those long lasting memories that I just talked about will live on and on. They can even outlive us if we treat them right! This holiday season let's put the phones to the side, set the tablets down, put up the gaming systems and let's make an effort to connect with our family. Whether it's blood family, friends, or our community we all need to Remember the gift of this Time that we have and use it to value and uplift the relationships we have.

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family"~Mother Theresa

Happy Holidays! From my family to yours; peace and blessings!