While winter’s chill might force us to stay inside a bit more in the coming weeks, it also creates space for us to think outside the box on goals for 2022! Here at Seniors Helping Seniors® in-home services, we’re all about planning ahead. As we usher in a new year, let’s take advantage of extra time inside to map out our aspirations for the coming months. The changing weather in the Heartland makes the perfect time for designing your annual vision board!
This craft-turned life-roadmap is fun and simple to develop. The key is to SHOWCASE your goals through pictures, phrases, and artistic expressions.
What you’ll need:
- Posterboard
- Magazines
- Images from your favorite artwork, books, or online printouts
- Scissors
- Glue sticks
- Pens and markers
Here are a few Seniors Helping Seniors® tips to get started:
- Consider your goals!
This first step is important: Set aside time to sit down and write out what you’d like to accomplish in the new year. These aims can be big or small, tangible or intangible. For example, you might want to spend more time with family and friends, travel somewhere you’ve never been, organize your home, start a new hobby or simply remember to drink more water. Nothing is out of reach!
Once you’ve got them down on paper, prioritize your initiatives according to their significance. Create a new list, recording your objectives from most important at the top to least important at the bottom.
- Lock in your layout
Now that you’ve decided what you want to accomplish in 2022, draw a grid on your poster board. The easiest way to do this is by splitting your board into three equal sections, both vertically and horizontally. When you’re done, you’ll have nine evenly spaced blocks.
- Position your goals and intentions
Group your list of objectives into categories, depending on the area of your life they fit into. For example, family, travel, and self-improvement could all be included as individual sections. Write one of these categories in each of the nine segments on your board. This step helps round out your vision. Take a minute to ensure you’ve covered all the areas you feel are important.
After deciding a theme for each section, jot down the goals and aspirations you have inside the box for that category. This serves as a reminder of your specific intentions and a guide to what type of pictures and phrases you’ll want to incorporate.
- Gather pictures and words that relate
Now that you know what types of images and phrases you’re looking for. Start browsing the magazines, books, and artwork you’ve compiled, clipping anything connected to your goals. If one of your hopes is to travel, you might use a photo of a sandy beach or the word “strong” if you plan to focus on fitness.
As you extract images, put them in piles corresponding to the nine sections on your vision board. This can also be a great part of the project to invite your grandkids or a few friends to help with. The more the merrier!
- Arrange your materials and start gluing!
Start positioning what you’ve clipped onto your vision board, but don’t glue anything down right away. You might want to rearrange or swap out a picture! Wait until you are completely satisfied with your design to make it permanent. You can also take this opportunity to trim the items you’ve gathered so they fit neatly in the space and don’t cover too much of your other clippings.
Use whatever approach works for you, but to start, it can be helpful to add one or two pictures in each section of your board and continue layering this way until you’ve incorporated all your ideas. Feel free to add finishing touches like colorful doodles or stickers – whatever helps express your aspirations!
- Display your board
You’ve finished creating your vision board…now what? Find a spot in your home to hang it proudly! Choose a place where you’ll see it regularly.
For an extra special touch, get it laminated at an office supply store or find an inexpensive frame to make your masterpiece really pop!
- Assess your goals daily
Your work isn’t done once you finish your vision board. In fact, it’s just beginning. Creating your board is important, but so is reviewing it regularly. Take a few minutes to look over your vision board every day. Doing so will allow you to truly focus on the areas you’ve chosen to improve and move you one step closer to conquering each of those 2022 aspirations!