By Melanie Brosnan, LCPC
Create Your Vision.
With the new year upon us and the desire to say goodbye to 2020 forever, it goes without saying that planning for 2021 will be a highly anticipated but cautiously approached task. Setting goals and planning for the new year can be accomplished many different ways including journaling, utilizing a yearly planner, doing self-reflection, or simply writing out a list of goals.
What's A Vision Board?
One of my favorite ways to begin the new year is to create a vision board. A vision board is a visual representation of the goals someone sets for a specific period of time, typically a year, but the period can be shorter. A vision board can be created the traditional way by using a poster board and cutting out words, images, or quotes and pasting them on the poster to create a collage of goals. Or it can be created digitally, selecting online photos or words to addto a larger background image. Canva is one website that can be used to create a digital vision board. Here is an example of how a digital vision board might look when finished.
As mentioned earlier, planning for 2021 might be met with resistance or hesitation due to how difficult of a year 2020 turned out to be. Because of this, it is recommended to start with small, manageable, and attainable goals. Think about the different areas of your life you may want to improve such as:
- family,
- friends,
- work,
- school,
- finances,
- spirituality
- mental health or
- physical health.
You may also want to take some time to self-reflect on what went well this most recent year and what you would like to change.
A vision board is a visual representation of the goals someone sets for a specific period of time, typically a year, but the period can be shorter.
Some examples of small goals might be going for a short walk 3-4 times a week, drinking more water, adding more green foods to your meals, setting aside a small amount of money to add to a savings account, spending 1 hour a day intentionally without screens, incorporating a minute of mindfulness daily, keeping countertops decluttered, donating unused items on a monthly basis, staying in contact with friends, or decreasing negative self-talk.
For each goal developed, you will want to select an image and write down what the image represents, or the goal associated with the image. Once you have all your goals represented you should display the vision board prominently so it can be viewed daily or save it as the background wallpaper of your phone, tablet, or computer.
Viewing the vision board daily will serve as a reminder to live your life with intention and help you stay focused on the things you want to accomplish. If you have any questions or need assistance creating or working through your new year’s goals, please reach out to our therapists at Ammirati Counseling for additional support.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to Ammirati Counseling to ask and inquire about support services that you can receive to help with overcoming feelings of depression, loneliness, stress or anxiety.
Ammirati Counseling is a boutique counseling group with office in Bannockburn Serving Chicago . Therapists also offer private therapy via remote online. They provide comprehensive care to children, teens, adults, couples, families, and the LGBTQ community.
Terri specializes in empowering clients to strengthen their relationships. She works with all aspects of relational distress and provides solution-focused therapy.
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