How Vision Boarding Helps You Document Your Personal, Career & Financial Progress

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Experts and coaches around the globe agree that you are more likely to achieve your goals when you write them down. Vision boards help you focus on priorities and provide a built-in accountability measure so you don’t lose sight of your goals. Here are the benefits of letting your creative juices flow and designing a personalized vision board.
Visual reminder of future goals
Many of us will set lofty goals but fail to take action towards achieving them. Dreaming is easy, but manifesting those dreams into a reality requires a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. When self-doubt creeps in, you can always refer to your vision board as a tangible reminder of where you’re headed. Visualizations are powerful because they activate your thoughts and lead to action. Visualize yourself being promoted at work or reaching milestones in your business. You don’t have to use cookie-cutter poster boards and magazine clippings. Something as simple as a sticky note quote or word of encouragement from a mentor is enough to create momentum. Don’t restrict yourself to professional development either. On the path to success, you may have to shift your personal life in a more positive direction to achieve the outcome you desire. There are no rules. Just focus on what is important to you and reaching your end goal.
Checklist for present accomplishments
While you’re plugging away to achieve our goals, you can’t forget to reward yourself and reflect on how far you’ve come. One day you’re pledging a New Year’s resolution and then BOOM —half the year is gone. A quick accountability check can help you determine what adjustments are crucial to your success. Acknowledging even the smallest wins will give you the stamina to keep pushing. You’re less likely to surrender to the fear of failure when you can see the fruits of burning the midnight oil and the benefits of rejecting social plans for the grind. Far too often, we get caught up in the nothingness of being busy. Be careful not to confuse “busy” with getting things done. Go back to the drawing board if you’re having trouble documenting your progress. Whether it’s a weight-loss journey, strategy for your nest egg or plan to live debt free, try separating each aspect of your life into smaller boards until you get the hang of more intricate goal setting.
Keep your mindset in check
You can’t talk about goals, accountability and focus without addressing mindset. We are our biggest critics. Thinking and speaking negatively about your capabilities stifle your results. An optimistic mindset helps your dreams to manifest. Those with vision boards centered around progression and upward mobility can expect positive outcomes. Ask any life coach, and she’ll tell you that the law of attraction is at work in all you do. Repetitively having a “woe is me” attitude about your growth or earning potential breathes life into defeat. Learn to recognize when you’re a realist versus a pessimist. There may be roadblocks to your success but devising an alternative plan and revisiting your vision board will help to shift your thinking into a more favorable direction.
Your possibilities are limitless so don’t place a cap on your achievements. Be sure to revamp your board as your priorities change. Once you document your accomplishments, use your vision board as a personal demonstration and testimony to empower others.
Ashley Watkins, Career Coach and Nationally Certified Résumé Writer with Write Step Resumes, LLC, provides high-quality résumé writing, interview preparation and career coaching services to help job seekers get more interviews and salary offers. She can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or via www.WriteStepResumes.com