Category Archives: Goal Setting

Using a Vison Board to Plan Your Goals

Vision boarding is one of my favorite ways to dream and attract what I want more of into my life.

What is a vision board?

The basic definition of a vision board is a visual manifestation of your goals. So, in order to create a vision board, you have to know what your goals are first!

GOALS

You have to do some deep work and plot out your goals prior to the vision boarding. Deciding on your goals and creating the visual representation of them are really two totally different exercises, and the goals have to come first.

That said, you don’t necessarily need to create a board for ALL your goals right away. If that feels too big, pick just 3 things. They could be how you want to feel, what you want to do, or a combo of both. Your goals don’t have to be perfect, and you may identify more as you work on the visual, but you at least need a few basics.

Examples of some tangible goals include becoming debt free, traveling to particular locations, moving into a new home, freeing up your time by delegating, changing your mindset.

VISION

Once you know goals that are most important, you are ready to create a powerful visual representation of them.

Here are some guidelines for creating your board:

Get a ton of different magazines, newspapers, or books that are meaningful to your goals and that you can cut things out of. If you know you want to do a lot of travel, get travel magazines. If you know you want to remodel, you may want to pick up a couple of Better Home and Garden mags. Ask friends if they have any you can have and feel free to use free ones as well.

Pick up stickers. You can get beautiful stickers from a craft store like Michael’s They have a huge selection of all kinds of stickers, and they are themed. They have a section for wedding stickers, travel stickers, life stickers…you name it. You can also order them on Amazon and look up anything you want. You can also look up “vison boarding stickers”, and you’ll get a ton of motivational phrase stickers and positive statement stickers.

Look up images online or print personal pictures of yourself, your business, or your family. I open up a Word doc and paste images in it that make the board even more personal, and print and cut those out. I recommend creating your goals as if they’ve already happened. Use words or photos like, “Mission accomplished! I made $300k this year.” as an example.

Get a board that works for you. I strongly recommend using foam boards because they are thick and look lovely when you hang them, and they are very durable. I decided to use an old canvas I found that is ruined and can’t be painted on, but it can be glued on!

Creative elements. You can order letters if you want to create words, write on washy tape and stick that on adding a powerful phrase in pen that works for you. Use glitter, paint, markers or whatever medium feels right to you.

Personalize it and pepper in meaningful items. If you have something that is meaningful to you and feels lucky or positive, tape or glue it on! A coin, a piece of string, a piece of jewelry, a crystal…whatever makes you feel jazzed, inspired, and seems to carry some magic in it when it shows up in your life is a fine addition.

A few things to note

Once everything is cut, consider the order / placement of your board. You want to create something that aligns with attracting what you want. For example, if I have two images next to each other and one says “joy” and the other says “eliminate” (meant for something else on the board), I might eliminate joy, and that would not be good. ???? So, just consider where you are placing things and how. You should feel into it and not think into it. Do your vison board in a calm headspace when you can tap into your intuition. That’s where the magic happens.

Use positive statements only. Avoid using negative statements like, “I won’t do this anymore.” That might accidentally attract the negative thing you don’t want. Instead, say, “I will do this.” and make it a positive statement for what you’d like to see instead.

Dream and get creative. This is supposed to be FUN. Your vision can be anything you want it to be, so make it amazing. Even if you think it’s a far out goal but you know you really want it, put it on there! Dream big!

Make it specific. If you want to lose weight, put a few stickers or images to represent “the how”. Add an image of a piece of exercise equipment or a photo of your gym and healthy food you’ll actually prep, or a class you’ll join during the year as examples.

Have fun with this exercise! I’d love to see what you come up with. Feel free to email me with a photo of it!

If You Can See It, You Can Be It

Vision boards are a fabulous way to focus on your good life and visualize what you want to achieve. It’s fun, too! Learn more about creating a vision board.

The vision board you see here to the right is one that someone on my team created.

But, if scanning through old magazines isn’t your idea of fun, you can still create a vision board – or maybe call it a vision diary or journal – without all the cutting and pasting.

You can have a digital vision board.

Achieve the same effect of a paper-and-paste vision board but use a Word document and free digital photos instead. If you want more design elements to your digital vision board, try Adobe Spark’s free collage maker.

You can also use a vision board design tool. This article has 7 different options that were specifically designed to create a vision board.

This is a fun alternative if you’re pressed for time during lunch or if you just don’t have a stash of magazines. Once your digital vision board is complete, make it your computer’s wallpaper so you will have a reminder every day of why you’re working so hard.

5 Ways to Have the Good Life

I doubt you would go on vacation without a destination and a map. You would make plans. You would be successful in reaching your destination. You can accomplish something similarly with daily, monthly, and yearly goals.

If your definition of “the good life” is something thousands of other people have already achieved, and you are not pleased with your progress, review your strategies. Something’s missing or you’ve gotten lost in the swamp of everyday distractions. If you’re working hard and not getting the results you deserve, STOP! Step back. Re-calculate. You need a better plan!

You don’t have to aim to be the best at something or even what you or other people consider “successful”. Choose what would make YOU feel successful, satisfied, or happy.

When people are truly happy and living a good life, they have done certain things to get there. For the most part, the things they do are simple, ordinary things we all can do.

Here’s a short list of 5 to use as your map to destination good life.

1.) Find the courage to choose specific, concrete goals. You can’t have or do everything, so make choices from your bucket list. If you can’t make a choice, try creating a vision board. The act of putting a vision board together could help you get more clear. Learn more about creating a vision board.

2.) Focus on personal development first, external achievement second. To have more, become more. More what, you ask? You may want to become more accepting of yourself, excited, motivated, and genuine. Or you may need to fill a gap between you and your goal by learning a skill or technique that you don’t know. You can take a class or join a networking group of like-minded people to do this.

3.) You do not have to know how do everything. There are plenty of experts, books, counselors, and coaches to help you. Make a list of the top 5 books, blogs, or podcasts on the subject and build time into your schedule to read or listen.

4.) Get your calendar out and take time to plan and have the discipline to commit to your plan. You can do something every day or week. Baby steps help you keep your focus. Never give up.

5.) Work smart. If you aren’t getting the results you anticipated, consult with someone (or have a good talk with yourself), review your plan, and devise a better plan. You have not failed. It’s called editing and re-writing. You know how many times writers re-write their novels? Or how many times I re-wrote this article? Think of you plan as a set of binoculars. You may need to keep adjusting the view until it’s clear.

Maps are not perfect and sometimes we need to venture off the main road to get to where we want to wind up.

For more personalized help developing a strategy that will help you create the life you truly want, please consider coaching. This is the perfect time to get started. Every journey starts with the first step. We can talk it over and decide the best way forward.

Tips to Let Your Light Shine in 2020

1. Guard your creative time like a Mama Bear guarding her cubs. She knows what is important and so do you.

You don’t’ have to choose just one thing to let shine in your life. It could be writing, organizing your office, work life, house, etc.

The point is to give yourself time to pursue something important to you. You would make time to go to the hair dresser and get your nails done, right? How do you make that happen? You put it on your calendar and you look forward to your appointment. Do the same thing with creative time. Put it on your calendar and to do list. You may have to retrain yourself to let your time be your time because intrusive thoughts will want your attention. All of a sudden you “remember” you need to pick up milk. No, picking up milk is for another time on your calendar.

2. Allow your dreams to come to mind. Don’t shut them down. What are your big dreams? Your little dreams? Here are categories to help you get started with thinking about ways to care for yourself that will help you be your best self and shine. Add in other categories or subcategories that make sense for you. You could include vacations, milestones, etc. Then move to step 3 below.

Relationships
Health
Work
Creativity
Spiritual Life
Community Life

3.) View this list as a lump of clay that you can form into a perfect sculpture of your life. Take some out, add some in until you get the picture of what is important to you in 2020. List 10 things in each category that you think you would like to do, be, see, or achieve in 2020. You can list more than 10! Then, answer the following questions. ??

If you could achieve one goal in your personal life, what would it be?
If you could only do one thing on your list, what would it be?
Now, here is the hard part (well, maybe it won’t seem hard): What will you let go of in 2020?

Last year, I created a “Protect Your Energy Planner” just for you! This year, I’m sharing it again for you to use in 2020. You can read about it and download it HERE. It would make a great complement to this exercise! My gift to you.

How to Make Time for What’s Important to You

Whether you are the boss, the parent, the person starting a new business or relationship, it’s never too late to plan how you want things to work out. We lead busy lives. There’s always more to do, so it is easy to get bogged down in day-to-day living and forget to learn, create and plan a vision for your business and life. And yet, others such as your employees, co-workers, family members depend on your ability to set the plan and lead the way.

It is reported that Bill Gates takes a week off every three months for thinking. He goes to a retreat alone to review and renew. Benjamin Franklin wrote that he liked his trips across the Atlantic because he gained perspective. C. S. Lewis would often take long walks in order to have time to think. Many people say that the one hour a day is their most productive hour of the day – when they are thinking, planning, dreaming. It’s no coincidence that these people were innovators and had a life by design.

A life by design is one your choose rather than going with the flow and doing what’s chosen for you.

You can set aside an hour a day, go on a retreat, get a perspective while on vacation or a weekend at home. Divide your planning and visioning time into two components: your business life and your personal growth. Both are essential.

Design the growth you want to see. Choose the way and develop a strategy for your future. Don’t overlook your personal development plan. A plan is important if you want to be equipped to be the person you will need to be in your future life.

Here are 3 places where you can choose to make a little time to work on your goals.

1.) In the morning. Wake up earlier or replace something in your morning routine for a while. Give yourself an extra 20 or 30 minutes or whatever you can spare to work on something a little every day.

2.) On your commute. When you are on public transportation or someone else is driving, utilize that time. If you find background noise distracting, bring headphones and play relaxing music.

3.) At night. Go to bed 20 minutes later or replace something in your night time routine.

If you need work on your time management, you may want to check out this book, Time Warrior by Steve Chandler.

If you would like help figuring out ways to help create a life by design, click here to take advantage of my free 30 minute phone consultation.

Break Your Goals Into Steps

Once you’ve set your mind on a goal and cleared away distractions, you’re ready to get started working. But first, you need to do some planning. When you plan in advance and use that plan, you’re more likely to succeed with your goals.

You can make a list of things to do to reach your goal. But it’s usually easier to start by evaluating what you need to make your goal a reality.

Here are a few things you may need to get going.

Tools or Supplies

What tools or supplies will you need in order to meet your goal? If you’re starting a blog, you’ll need a website and hosting. If you’re aiming to lose weight, you’ll need a food scale and measuring cups. If you’re starting a jewelry business, then you’ll need modeling clay to make charms and necklace thread.

You also need to consider supplies you may have forgotten about. If you’re starting a business, you may need child care. If you’re changing your diet, you may need new recipe books to help you prepare healthier meals.

Specialized Help

Sometimes, you can’t achieve your goals by yourself. That’s where specialized help comes in. Specialized help can take many forms. It might be hiring a personal trainer so you can get the toned body you want. It might be hiring a business coach to help you book enough clients to pay your bills.

Specialized help can sometimes be expensive. But if your goal is important to you, don’t be afraid to invest in it. Some coaches and trainers may be willing to work with you to develop a payment plan so be sure to ask if this is an option.

Support from Friends and Family

You can’t succeed in a bubble. In order to reach your goals, you’ll need the support of your family and friends. If your family and friends can’t be supportive, you should look for the support elsewhere.

Joining a support group or finding an online community can be helpful in these situations. Look for groups and communities that leave you feeling upbeat and are filled with people that want to achieve similar goals.

Return the Support

It’s easy to get so wrapped up in your new goal that you forget to invest in others. If you’re part of a group or community, make sure that you offer help to other members. Be willing to take time from your day to support someone else.

Now that you do know what you need in order to succeed, it’s time to go after your goal. It’s scary to take that first step, but you have to be willing to do it. Once you’ve taken that first step, you’ll experience a rush of confidence and increased motivation.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK

If you would like to work on breaking your negative thinking pattern, click here to take advantage of my free 30 minute phone consultation.

Protect Your Energy with Boundaries Planner – Free Download

Now is the season we start to plan more. There is Thanksgiving and Halloween, Christmas and a New Year to plan for. And then, there is your life stretched thin doing all that planning.

I am giving, yes giving, away a Planner that will help you put things in order. It’s actually called How to Protect Your Energy with Boundaries, so it is good for your overall health.

It’s actually called How to Protect Your Energy with Boundaries so it is good for your overall health.

In it are ways to create your Vision Board, brainstorm your life goals and put them into your life.

The planner uses the word “business” which helps you see your business goals. Feel free to substitute the words “my life” or your own word. It really is applicable to you no matter your definition.

Ironically, as I was writing to you about planning, a hurricane was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico. My night classes were cancelled and we made a grocery store run to plan for the unexpected. I thought, “How interesting! Life can feel like a hurricane, but if we plan our life, that can help us stay focused and out of the crazy of the storm.”

I should write “plan for hurricains” into my planner! Thankfully, we are safe and all is well now. Back to the plan.

Please download your free planner here. If you like it, pass it on to your friends and loved ones.

The 4 Easy Things to Do to Live Your Vision

Are you enjoying the summer yet? My garden plants are finally growing and there is always something new to see. I have a vision. Don’t you think it’s good to have a vision of what you want to do in your life and work?

Sometimes my vision of helping people seems huge and overwhelming. How many clients can I see? How many students can I teach? However, that same vision can be inspiring and restorative. When someone meets his/her goal, like when someone takes a step out into a new career, it’s all worth it.

Here are 4 things I’ve learned about living your vision.

1. Let it live. Don’t hold on so tightly to a certain way it has to happen or look. Stop saying: “One day” or “When things are right, etc.” and start saying “today”. Please look at the short video below featuring Wayne Dyer to see why this is so.

2. Break your vision down like a recipe. What are all the parts of your vision? Some items are like a pinch of salt and others are 4 cups of peeled potatoes. It is more manageable this way.

3. Get your calendar out and pencil in a baby step every day. Always make rest a baby step because good ideas come when you are walking or resting or in the shower. Remember to write them down!

4. Let the vision of your life align with your other visions / goals. Design your life to have what you want in it. Do you want to live closer to family? In a different house? Do you want more freedom, adventure, travel, quiet retreat time, or time to write?

Perhaps your vision has changed from the one you had years ago. Feel what is true for you.

When you take a step, spirit will match it.

Listen to what Wayne Dyer had to say about this in his video HERE. (This video is presented by Hay House 2017.)

If you need help with healing something or finding balance in your life, get information or schedule your own Discovery Session with me HERE.

When You Meet Your Goal

You’ve worked hard and accomplished your goal. Now, you deserve to kick back and celebrate your success. There are many ways that you can choose to celebrate.

You could buy yourself something new, which is a great way to celebrate reaching an ideal weight. You could take a day off and spend the time with your family, which is a great way to celebrate leaving your day job. You could get a relaxing massage or visit a local spa, which is a great way to celebrate the success of a difficult goal.

Create a Keepsake

You can also mark the completion of a goal with a keepsake. You could add a charm to a necklace or bracelet. You can buy an art print to hang on your wall. Some people even choose to celebrate by getting a tattoo.

The important thing is to not let your success pass you by uncelebrated. You worked hard and you deserve recognition for your hard work and personal growth.

Review Your Success

No matter how you choose to celebrate, you should also take time to review your journey. Recording your thoughts and feelings in a journal is a great way to do this.

While you’re journaling, you might want to include what made you decide to go after your goal, what worked for you, setbacks you experienced, and how you feel now.

Show Your Appreciation

Once you’ve celebrated your success, it’s time to thank your supporters. Maybe your mom watched your kids three times a week so you could make it to the gym. Maybe your spouse believed in your business when you were just starting out. Maybe you had a mentor who provided advice that helped you succeed.

You should always thank the people in your community that stood by you during the journey. But don’t stop there. Ask how you can return the blessing. Look for ways that you can support the dreams of the community that supported your dream.

Decide What’s Next

It’s not uncommon to reach a goal you’ve been after for a long time and suddenly find yourself restless. You took the time to celebrate your accomplishment and you thanked your community. But now you’re filled with energy and don’t know what to do next.

Now, you should begin looking for your next goal. It doesn’t have to be directly related to the one you just accomplished. But do pick another goal that makes you just as passionate as the one before it did.

If you don’t acknowledge your journey, then you can’t learn from it. That’s why you should always celebrate when you reach a goal. You’ve earned it.

I hope you have enjoyed my series on goal setting. Please let me know if you did and what you were able to achieve. I love to hear from you!

Click here to download the goal setting workbook.

Break Your New Goal Into Steps