My vision for 2022

Last weekend I finally got my SCUBA diving course and finished my 29th book of the year (29 because last year I read 28...). This meant I had finally completed my 'measurable' goals on my vision board. Although it’s now early December and I meant to write this post back in January (2023 vision board note: be kind to oneself), I’d love to share my vision for the year with you.

In 2021, I decided that after the year that was 2020 (I know, say no more!), my life could do with a more colourful direction of how I wanted to live. A fellow yogi and my new year yoga retreat mentioned that they had a word for their year. I decided to follow suit and tmy vision board was born around my 2020 world release. I took my watercolour paint and made my vision board into a kaleidoscope of random words and phrases – like release and you are enough. 2020 had been hard and I needed all the self-love I could muster.

In addition to the airy fairy positivity, I also added some tangible goals. I included finishing my masters (??), going home to New Zealand (did not happen ??), visiting at least 3 new places (??????) and reading at least a book a fortnight (??). I moved house three times last year and my colourful inspirational collage came with me each time, hanging in the premium real estate next to my desk.

I stared at my vision board every day for a year and it was a commitment to myself to follow through on my vision. I put some things on there that I didn’t feel totally enthused about, but I had made the commitment and promised myself to do it (I am an upholder, which helps) and pushed through.

I loved the feeling of accomplishment I got from completing some of the bigger, yearlong goals that I’d put on my vision board (e.g., my book target – 2021 was the first year I kept track) that I naturally decided to do it again this year. Having a starting point from my 2021 vision board inspired me to go bigger and greater, but equally I tried not to push myself too hard.

Here’s a snapshot of what I put on my board;

• Do my second yoga retreat (second, ever)
• See my friends and family in New Zealand
• Eat more plant-based foods
• Explore a new hobby
• Paint, often
• Travel somewhere new
• Journal
• Foster and nurture my creativity
• Get my PADI certificate
• Reduce my cortisol

My word for this year was grow and my positive mantras remind me to continue to thrive, grow and love, listen and believe in myself. Again, it sounds really woo woo but if I’m not going to pump myself up, who will? I’m proud to report that for all of my tangible goals, I’ve completed them (obviously I need to up the game for next year).

Having a vision board has been an exercise of positivity and creativity that has helped me start each year in a great mood and find new ways to focus and challenge myself. It’s an activity I now look forward to at the beginning of each year and I’d encourage you to think about how you can do something like this for yourself, albeit in your own way (my mentor group last year did this with a virtual pin board, for example).

When you’re creating your own vision for 2023, here’s some quick tips I’ve picked up from my own couple of years of vision boarding:

What a vision board should be:

• FUN! I love creating mine because I do it with colourful felt tips and watercolour paints, it brings out my inner child and looks good on the wall
• Visible – keep it somewhere that you’ll see it, often – that’s why I’m not a fan of creating something in cyber space to check occasionally (try setting it as your Desktop background)
• Positive vibes only
• Motivational – there should be something challenging on there to push you out of your comfort zone (this is what SCUBA was to me)
• Personal – I fill mine with positive mantras and statements to remind me of who I am and where I’m going, which will obviously be different for you
• Achievable – whilst there are some random quotes on my board to motivate me, there are also some concrete SMART goals which serve to both push me and give me a concrete sense of achievement?

What it shouldn’t…

• Coming back to our SMART goals (can you tell I work in L&D??), the goals need to be achievable – for me, reading 50 books in a year wasn’t achievable, so I settled for one more than last year, which had been a stretch goal already
• Something to make you feel bad – in 2021 I couldn’t make it home, having it on my vision board did bum me out a little, but it was out of my control
• A strict rulebook for life – as with anything, you’ve got to have some adaptability. My ‘explore a new hobby’ this year was knitting. I was super excited to be someone that knitted their own scarves. But I hated it. I tried and kept dropping stitches and stabbing myself with the needles. I took ‘explore’ very loosely and dropped this one after a few weeks…onto the next thing!
• A chore. If you made it this far into this post, chances are you’re interested in doing your own vision board. But if you don’t make it work for you, then it’s going to feel tedious and you’re unlikely to actually finish anything, which is super demotivating. Have a play and see how you can tweak it for you.
• Something you finish in the first quarter. If you’ve finished all your yearlong goals in the first quarter, you clearly haven’t picked things challenging enough for you. It’s taken me a full 11 months to get through my tangible goals, so I’ve almost got the balance!

Once you’ve done a year, it’s always great to reflect how it’s been and what you can do differently for next year. I’ll be excited to finish my Cert IV and give (formal) study a bit of a break for 2023, so I’ll need to find a new challenge – any suggestions?