Vision Boarding and Memory Jars

Two tools to help you be more productive and positive this year!

I firmly believe that there is power in saying things out loud. Talking about your goals, and making visual reminders, offers a level of accountability that can help you work harder toward accomplishing your dreams.

We are still at the beginning of a new year, so it doesn’t matter if you didn’t figure this out before the ball dropped, its never too late to decide what you want, and start going for it!

Today I am going to talk about two tools that can help you be more productive, and more positive this year.

The Vision Board

Vision Boards are not only incredibly useful when it comes to envisioning the things you want for your future, they are also fun to make!

Here is a brief tutorial on how to make one:

1. Spend some time figuring out exactly what you want to accomplish. What are the specific goals you want to set for your life over the next year? Make sure you set goals for every area of your life, don’t focus so much on career that you neglect your relationship goals. Or so much on health that you forget your hobbies! To help, here are some areas for focus:
   • Spiritual
   • Relational
   • Health
   • Financial
   • Career
   • Hobbies
   • Personal Growth
2. Find some images that represent each of your goals (I took to Pinterest and created a digital board there first).
3. Print out the best images you selected. (Pro tip: Print them out on card stock so they are sturdier. Make them all different shapes and sizes to add visual interest and to avoid monotony. Also, when you cut them out, leave some white around the edges so they have a sort of frame and look a little like a Polaroid!)
4. Pick your board! (I chose a foam board, but you could use poster board, a cork board if you want one you can reuse every year- which is what I plan to do in the long run- You could also get fancy with a wall in your house or the top of your desk! Get creative!)
5. Get together with some friends and have a crafternoon making your boards together. This gives all of you a chance to speak out loud what your hopes and aspirations are, and in so doing, give yourselves some accountability to make those goals happen!
6. Hang your vision board somewhere you will see it OFTEN! This should be a constant reminder of what your goals should be for each day. Does your plan for today take you closer toward your goal for the year? (Mine hangs over my bed as a headboard, so I see it every morning when I wake up, every night when I go to bed, and every time I walk into my room. Hanging it in your office would be a great idea too!)
7. Don’t get used to seeing it. By that I mean, don’t get in the habit of not even really looking at it or reading it. Make sure it functions as a reminder of what you are spending each and every day working toward!

Memory Jars

To help you to keep from going vision-blind, lets talk about how to use your memory jar to help your vision board work harder for you!

You may or may not have heard of memory jars. These are little jars that you decorate however you want, and fill with happy memories.

Every time something good happens you write it on a little slip of paper and slip it in your jar. On New Years Eve you open your jar and reflect on all the good that happened that year.

I made my jar a couple years ago. The first year, it was fun! Last year I didn’t use it. I had a hard year… there were good things that happened, sure… But the jar just sat there empty on my nightstand.

So this year I decided to try something just a little bit different. This year, in addition to writing out all the good things that happen, I am also going to commemorate every time I fulfill one of my goals from my vision board! This will work as a little tally system, so at the end of the year, when I lay in bed and open my jar, I can look up at my vision board and read off all my goals, and how I accomplished them!

This will help you build confidence and self-esteem, which can help you to tackle your goals next year. Done right, this can be an ever building momentum to help make the most out of your life!

Will you grab some friends and join me?

Happy New Year! 2018 is going to be freaking awesome!